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Captain    if.Iiarles    Kiuau  ITt.S. A. 


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CAPTAIN  CLOSE 


AND 


SERGEANT  CROESUS 


TWO    NOVELS 


BY 

CAPTAIN    CHARLES    KING 

U.  S.  ARMY 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  COLONEL'S  DAUGHTER,"  "MARION'S  FAITH," 
"UNDER  FIRE,"  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 
1895 


Copyright,  "  Captain  Close,"  1894,  by  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 


Copyright,  "  Sergeant  Croesus,"  1893,  by  J.  B.  LIPPINGOTT  COMPANY. 


PRINTED  BY  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  PHILADELPHIA,  U.S.A. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 


I. 

FTIHE  conductor  had  eyed  Lambert  curiously  as  he  punched  his  ticket. 
JL  He  held  it  a  moment  and  edged  his  lantern  around  so  that  its 
feeble  light  could  reinforce  the  glimmer  from  the  bleared  and  smoky 
globe  above  Lambert's  curly  head.  The  train  had  started  from  the 
junction  with  that  quick  series  of  back- wrenching  jerks  which  all 
veteran  travellers  remember  as  characteristic  of  American  railways 
before  the  introduction  of  "  coupler  buffers."  It  was  a  shabby,  old- 
fashioned  train, — one  whose  cars  had  "  seen  service,"  and  not  a  little 
of  it,  during  the  long  and  eventful  war  so  recently  closed.  It  had  a 
baggage-car  behind  the  wheezy  old  wood-burner  that  drew  the  rickety 
procession  out  into  the  dim,  starlit  aisle  through  the  eastward  forest, 
and,  for  the  first  time  in  a  week,  that  baggage-car  contained  a  trunk. 
It  had  a  "  smoker,"  in  which  three  or  four  negroes  were  soundly  sleep 
ing  on  the  worn  cushions  at  the  forward  end,  and  three  or  four  lank, 
shabbily-dressed  whites  were  consuming  tobacco  and  killing  time  under 
the  single  lamp  at  the  other.  It  had  a  "  ladies'  car," — so  called, — in 
which  no  ladies  were  visible,  and  which  differed  in  appointments  from 
the  smoker  only  in  the  facts  that  its  seats  were  upholstered  in  dingy  red 
plush  instead  of  blackened  canvas,  and  that  both  its  lamps  could  be 
induced  to  burn,  however  feebly,  instead  of  only  one.  It  was  a  for 
lorn,  hangdog,  shamefaced  sort  of  train,  that  seemed  oppressed  with 
sense  of  its  own  disrepute, — a  train  that  kept  in  hiding  during  the 
broad  light  of  day  and  ventured  to  slink  forth  only  aft^r  nightfall,  like 
some  impoverished  debtor,  not  loving  the  darkness  better  than  light 
because  of  evil  deeds,  but  hating  it  as  it  hated  its  own  shabbiness,  and 
accepting  it  as  only  one  plane  above  total  decrepitude,  the  junk-shop 
and  the  poor-house.  Starting  at  dusk  from  a  populous  station  on  a 
north-and-south  "  trunk"  line,  it  turned  and  twisted  through  red  clay 

1*  5 


6  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

cuttings,  jolted  over  mud-covered  ties  and  moss-grown  trestles,  whis 
tling  shrill  to  wake  the  watchers  at  'cross-country  stations  on  the  way, 
and  finally,  after  midnight,  rested  an  hour  at  a  prominent  point,  a 
"  State  centre,"  where,  sometimes  at  one  o'clock  but  generally  long  after, 
the  night  express  came  glaring  up  from  the  South  along  the  glistening 
rails  of  another  "  great  northern"  route,  and  three  nights  in  the  week, 
perhaps,  gave  it  a  sleepy  passenger  or  two  to  trundle  away  westward 
towards  the  big  river  town  it  managed  to  reach  by  sunrise,  once  more 
to  slink  out  of  sight  until  dark,  when  again  it  crept  forth  and  stole 
away  on  the  return  trip  over  its  clanking  road,  unresentful  of  comment 
on  its  loneliness  and  poverty,  and  proud,  if  anything,  of  the  fact  that 
this  way,  at  least,  it  ran  "  right  end  foremost,"  according  to  the  Ameri 
can  idea,  with  the  baggage-  instead  of  the  ladies'  car  next  the  strug 
gling  engine. 

It  was  a  clear,  starlit  night,  sharply  cold,  and  the  planks  of  the 
platform  at  the  junction  had  snapped  and  creaked  under  their  glisten 
ing  white  coat  of  frosty  rime.  The  up  train  came  in  even  later  than 
usual, — so  much  so  that  the  station-master  had  more  than  once  asked 
his  friend  the  conductor  of  the  waiting  "  Owl"  whether  he  really 
thought  he  could  "  make  it"  over  to  Quitman  in  time  for  the  down 
express  at  dawn.  "  You'd  better  pull  out  the  minute  she  gits  hyuh," 
was  his  final  injunction  when  at  last  her  whistle  was  heard. 

A  lithe,  active  young  fellow  in  a  trim  suit  of  tweed  had  sprung 
from  the  sleeper  before  the  incoming  train  had  fairly  stopped,  and, 
hailing  the  first  man  he  saw,  asked,  "Train  for  Tugaloo  gone  yet?" 
which  so  astonished  the  party  addressed  that  he  simply  stared  for  a  min 
ute  without  reply.  A  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness,  apparently,  was 
heard  above  the  hissing  of  steam  and  the  loud  mouthings  of  the  negro 
porters  of  the  two  rival  hotels.  "  All  aboard  for  Quitman,"  it  said, 
and,  abandoning  his  apparent  purpose  of  repeating  the  question  in 
sharper  tone,  the  young  fellow  turned  and  ran  nimbly  across  the  dimly- 
lighted  platform  in  the  direction  of  the  hail. 

"  Quitman  train? — Tugaloo?"  he  asked  of  a  dark  form  standing 
above  the  tail  light  of  the  car. 

"  Quitman  it  is.  Anybody  else  thar?"  And  the  interrogative  went 
off  in  a  shout.  No  answer. 

"  Aw,  Hank  !  Anybody  else  ?"  Still  no  answer.  Two  or  three 
dim  figures  were  by  this  time  clustered  around  the  flaring  torch  of  a 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  7 

coffee-stand  at  the  edge  of  the  platform.  The  conductor  got  off  and 
walked  impatiently  towards  them. 

"  Any  you  gentlemen  for  Quitman?"  he  asked. 

"  Quitman  ?  Hell,  no !  What's  any  man  want  to  go  thar  for 
night  like  this  ?  Pull  out  with  your  old  sneezer,  Jimmy,  'nless  you'll 
stop  and  take  a  cup  coffee." 

"  Oh,  that  you,  cap  ?  Ain't  you  got  anybody  for  us  ?  Thought  the 
judge  was  comin'  up  to-night." 

"  Warn't  on  my  car,"  said  the  brakeman  of  the  express,  possessively. 
"  Young  feller  'n  the  sleeper  all  /  know  of." 

" Got  him"  answered  the  conductor  as  briefly  as  possible  for  a  man 
long  attuned  to  the  soft  Southern  drawl,  and  whose  "  got"  was  more 
like  "  gawt."  "  Reckon  we  might  as  well  git,  then,"  he  continued,  re 
turning  to  the  colloquial  present  indicative  of  a  verb  of  manifold  mean 
ing  and  usefulness.  "  Tell  Hank,  will  you  ? — Let  'er  go,  Jack,"  he 
shouted  to  the  engineer  with  a  wave  of  his  lantern.  A  yelp  from  the 
whistle  was  the  answer ;  the  fireman  crawled  out  from  a  warm  corner  in 
the  baggage-car  and  shambled  drowsily  forward  to  the  cab.  Sudden  jets 
of  steam  flew  hissing  out  on  the  frosty  air.  One  after  another  the  three 
cars  lunged  sharply  forward  and  then  slowly  rolled  forth  into  the  night. 
The  conductor  clambered  up  the  rear  steps  with  parting  wave  of  his 
lantern,  slammed  the  door  after  him,  and  came  up  the  narrow  aisle  to 
look  at  his  passenger.  Before  he  had  time  to  speak,  however,  his  atten 
tion  was  attracted  by  a  succession  of  yells  from  the  track  to  their  rear. 
Giving  an  angry  yank  at  the  bell-rope,  he  whirled  about  and  hurried 
to  the  door.  The  train  came  willingly  to  a  sudden  stand,  and  Lam 
bert,  stowing  his  hand  luggage  on  the  empty  seat  before  him,  heard  the 
following  lively  colloquy,  as  did  everybody  else  who  happened  to  be 
awake  and  within  a  radius  of  two  hundred  yards : 

"Whatd'you  want?" 

"  Come  back  hyuh,  I  say." 

"  What  d'you  wa-a-nt  ?     I  ain't  goin'  to  back  in  thar  now." 

"Hyuh'sa  trunk." 

"Wha-at?" 

"  A  tru-u-unk." 

"  Why  in  hell  didn't  you  sling  it  abawd  fihst  off?"  sung  out  the 
conductor,  disgustedly.  "  Ain't  you  felluhs  got  any  brains  ? — Back 
up,  Jack !"  he  shouted  forward,  signalling  with  his  lantern  again. 
"Somebody's  left  a  band-bawx,  by  criminy !"  And  so,  growling  volubly, 


8  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

the  custodian  of  the  "  Owl"  swung  himself  out  from  the  steps,  hanging 
by  the  left  hand  to  the  iron  railing  and  holding  extended  his  green  and 
white  lantern  with  the  other.  A  couple  of  stalwart  negroes  came 
panting  forward  to  meet  them,  the  offending  trunk  on  their  shoulders, 
and  went  stumbling  up  the  sloping  embankment  towards  the  slowly 
backing  baggage-car.  The  light  from  the  lantern  fell  on  the  new  can 
vas  cover  and  on  the  fresh  brown  finish  of  the  straps  and  handles,  then 
on  the  inscription  in  bold  black  letters  at  the  end : 

I.  N.  LAMBERT, 

U.  8.  ARMY. 

At  sight  of  which  the  conductor  checked  the  half-jocular,  half- 
resentful  tirade  he  was  composing  for  the  benefit  of  the  station-master, 
and  abruptly  asked, — 

"  Whuh's  it  goin'  ?" 

"  Tugaloo,  suh,"  said  the  rearmost  negro. 

"  Well,  hump  it  abawd,  V  be  quick  about  it."  Then,  raising  his 
voice,  he  shouted  across  the  platform,  "  Shuah  you  ain't  gawt  a  feedin'- 
bawtle  or  a  cake  o'  soap  or  sW  other  truck  to  fetch  me  back  again, 
Hank?  Dawg  gawn  'f  I  reckon  we  ever  will  get  to  Quitman,  't  this 
rate!" 

The  darkies  about  the  coffee-stand  gave  a  guffaw  of  sympathetic 
rejoicing  over  the  official's  humor.  The  conductor  was  evidently  more 
popular  than  the  station-master.  One  of  the  two  trunk-bearers  came 
lunging  in  at  the  front  door  of  the  car,  and,  humble  yet  confident, 
appealed  to  Lambert: 

"  Little  somethin',  suh,  fur  totin'  de  trunk  ?  Bin  los',  mos'  like,  'f 
it  had  n'  bin  f  r  us.  Thanky,  suh.  T/ianky."  And  the  negro's  eyes 
danced,  for  the  douceur  handed  him  by  the  young  owner  of  the  vagrant 
baggage  exceeded  his  hopes.  He  strove,  indeed,  to  turn  and  renew  his 
thanks  at  the  rear  door,  but  was  collared  and  hustled  unceremoniously 
off  the  car. 

"You  ain't  goin'  to  git  off  at  Tugaloo  this  time  o'  night?"  asked 
the  conductor,  finally,  and  with  that  odd  emphasis  expressive  of  doubt 
as  to  a  passenger's  knowledge  of  his  own  intentions  so  often  heard  in 
our  thinly-settled  districts.  Lambert  interpreted  it  to  mean  "Any 
body  else,  perhaps,  but  not  you."  He  was  already  cogitating  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  conductor  had  intended  some  covert  sneer  in  his 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  9 

recent  reference  to  "feeding-bottles,"  for  Lambert  was  but  one-and- 
twenty,  and  youthful-looking  for  his  years.  The  tone  of  this  inquiry 
and  the  look  which  accompanied  it  after  deliberate  pause  and  study  of 
the  proffered  ticket,  however,  were  far  from  aggressive  or  discourteous, 
yet  the  unintentional  misplacing  of  the  emphasis,  following  an  allu 
sion  equally  hapless  and  alike  unintentional,  had  given  umbrage  to  the 
boy.  "  You  must  expect  to  hear  no  end  of  unpleasant  things,"  he  had 
been  told  at  department  head- quarters,  where  he  had  received  orders  to 
go  on  and  join  his  company,  then  in  camp  at  Tugaloo.  "  Everybody 
is  mighty  sore  yet  over  the  late  unpleasantness.  Hold  your  tongue  and 
keep  your  temper,"  were  the  parting  injunctions ;  and  he  meant  to  do 
both.  All  the  same  he  did  not  intend  to  allow  people  to  treat  him  with 
discourtesy, — certainly  not  a  conductor  of  a  public  railway.  Lambert 
was  on  his  dignity  in  a  moment.  He  looked  the  railway  man  straight 
in  the  eye  and  replied,  with  all  the  calm  and  deliberation  he  could 
master,  "  My  ticket  would  seem  to  indicate  that  such  was  my  intention," 
and  almost  immediately  regretted  it,  for  the  conductor  looked  up  in 
sudden  surprise,  stood  one  instant  irresolutely,  then  saying,  "  Oh ! 
All  right,"  turned  abruptly  away,  walked  up  beyond  the  stove,  and, 
roughly  shaking  the  elbow  of  a  snoring  passenger,  sung  out,  "  Coates- 
ville,"  and  let  himself  out  with  an  emphatic  bang  of  the  door. 

Two  days  later,  when  asked  at  Quitman  what  sort  of  a  fellow  the 
new  lieutenant  seemed  to  be,  Mr.  Scroggs,  the  conductor,  himself  a  sol 
dier  of  large  experience  and  no  little  ability, — a  man  who  had  fought 
his  way  from  the  ranks  to  the  command  of  the  remnant  of  a  regiment 
that  laid  down  its  battered  arms  among  the  very  last,  a  man  not  five 
years  Lambert's  senior  in  age,  but  lustrums  ahead  of  him  in  the  prac 
tical  details  of  his  profession, — Mr.  Scroggs,  the  conductor,  promptly 
said,  ft  He's  a  dam  little  foci,"  and  never  dreamed  how  much  he  should 
one  day  deplore  it. 

"  Newt"  Lambert,  as  he  was  known  among  his  intimates,  was  far 
from  being  a  fool.  He  had  seen  very  little  of  the  world,  it  is  true, 
and,  until  this  December  night,  next  to  nothing  of  the  sunny  South, 
where  at  this  particular  period  in  our  national  history  it  was  not  every 
man  who  could  so  conduct  himself  as  not  to  fall  into  error.  More 
especially  in  the  military  service  was  an  old  head  needed  on  young 
shoulders,  and  a  strong  head  between  new  shoulder-straps,  for  army 
life  so  soon  after  the  great  war  was  beset  by  snares  and  temptations  it 
rarely  hears  of  now,  and  many  a  fellow,  brave  and  brainy  both,  in  the 
A* 


10  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

days  that  tried  men's  souls  'twixt  Big  Bethel  and  Appomattox,  or  Bel- 
mont  and  Bentonville,  went  down  in  the  unequal  tussle  with  foe  far 
more  insidious  than  faced  him  in  the  field,  but  which  met  him  day  and 
night  now  that  peace  had  come.  It  was  at  a  time  when  the  classes 
graduating  from  the  Military  Academy  were  being  assigned  mainly  to 
the  staff  corps  and  to  the  artillery  and  cavalry  regiments.  Lambert 
fancied  that  he  should  prefer  the  associations  and  much  prefer  the 
stations  of  the  artillery  to  those  of  any  other  corps,  but  an  old  friend 
of  his  father's,  himself  a  veteran  gunner,  advised  the  young  fellow  to 
seek  his  fortune  elsewhere.  "  If  you  are  commissioned  a  lieutenant  of 
artillery,"  said  he,  "  it  may  be  twenty  years  before  you  see  your  cap 
taincy."  And,  though  this  was  within  three  years  after  the  reorgani 
zation  of  the  army  in  '66,  not  one  of  Lambert's  contemporaries  who 
trusted  to  luck  and  applied  for  the  artillery  had  yet  come  within  hope 
ful  range  of  the  double  bars.  Lambert  amazed  them  all  when  he 
asked  for  the  infantry  arm  and  took  his  commission  thankfully. 

He  had  been  detailed  for  summer  duty  at  the  Point,  as  was  then  a 
custom,  so  that  his  leave  of  absence  of  three  months  did  not  begin 
until  the  28th  of  August.  He  had  been  assigned  to  a  regiment  whose 
ranks  were  sadly  depleted  by  the  yellow  fever,  and  which  was  still 
serving  in  the  South.  "  You  won't  have  to  hoof  it  out  to  Idaho  or 
Montana, anyhow,"  said  a  sympathetic  friend,  "and  you'll  have  no  end 
of  fun  at  New  Orleans." 

But  Lambert's  company  was  not  at  New  Orleans.  Under  recent 
orders  it  had  been  sent  up  into  the  heart  of  the  country,  where  some 
turbulent  spirits,  so  it  was  alleged,  had  been  defying  the  civil  officers  of 
the  general  government,  and  by  the  time  the  short  Southern  winter  set 
in  more  than  half  his  regiment,  together  with  three  or  four  others,  had 
been  distributed  by  companies  or  detachments  all  over  the  Gulf  States, 
and  experienced  officers  were  scarce  as  hens'  teeth.  The  duty  was  un 
welcome  and  galling.  Lambert's  captain  lost  no  time  in  getting  on 
staff  duty,  and  "  G"  Company  went  into  camp  at  Tugaloo  under  com 
mand  of  its  first  lieutenant.  Arriving  at  New  Orleans,  Lambert  re 
ported  himself  at  the  head -quarters  of  the  general  commanding,  who 
knew  the  boy's  father,  welcomed  the  son  for  old  friendship's  sake,  and 
told  his  chief  of  staff  to  keep  him  there  a  week  or  so,  that  he  might 
see  something  of  the  Southern  metropolis  and  of  his  friends  down  at 
the  barracks  before  going  to  his  exile  "  up  the  road."  Dining  the  very 
next  evening  at  Captain  Cram's,  with  Waring  and  Pierce  of  the  light 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  11 

battery,  and  perhaps  rather  ruefully  agreeing  with  them  that  he  had 
"made  a  beastly  fluke  of  it,  going  into  the  doughboys,"  Lambert  was 
asked,  "  Who's  in  command  of  your  company  now  ?" 

"  Our  first  lieutenant,"  said  he.  "  I  don't  know  much  about  him, 
— Brevet  Captain  Close." 

Whereupon  Waring  laid  down  his  knife  and  fork.  "  Angels  and 
ministers  of  grace !"  he  exclaimed.  "  Well,  if  that  isn't  the  oddest 
contre-temps  1  ever  heard  of!"  And  then  they  all  began  to  laugh. 

"  You  evidently  know  him,"  said  Lambert,  somewhat  nettled  and 
a  trifle  ill  at  ease.  "  Why  did  you  ask  me  about  him  ?  Somebody 
told  me  he  had  been  commissioned  for  heroism — special  bravery  in 
action,  or  something  of  that  kind — during  the  war." 

"  Gospel  truth,"  said  Pierce.  "  Close  is  the  most  absolutely  fear 
less  man  I  ever  met.  Nothing  even  Waring  could  ever  do  or  say 
would  ruffle  him."  And  then,  though  Mrs.  Cram  declared  it  a  shame, 
she  too  joined  in  the  general  laughter.  Close  was  evidently  a  celebrity. 

And  now,  as  Lambert  found  himself  within  a  few  miles — though 
it  might  be  several  hours — of  his  destination,  he  was  thinking  not  a 
little  of  the  officer  to  whose  presence  he  was  so  soon  to  report  his  own, 
and  whose  companionship  and  influence,  for  good  or  for  ill,  he  was 
bound  to  accept  for  the  simple  reason  that,  so  far  as  he  could  learn, 
there  was  absolutely  no  one  else  with  whom  he  could  associate, — except, 
possibly,  the  "  contract  doctor." 

Quitting  New  Orleans  after  a  long  day's  sight-seeing  with  his 
friends,  he  had  sought  a  berth  in  the  Pullman  and  slept  soundly  until 
aroused  by  the  porter  after  two  o'clock  to  change  cars  at  the  junction. 
Now  he  was  wide  awake,  and,  after  the  first  few  miles  of  jolting  and 
grinding  through  the  darkness,  was  becoming  chilled  and  lonesome, — 
perhaps  a  trifle  home-sick.  Twice  had  the  conductor  bustled  through 
the  train,  rousing  sleeping  passengers  and  seeing  them  safely  off  at  dark 
and  mysterious  stations  where  hardly  a  glimmer  of  lamp  or  candle 
could  be  seen  away  from  the  mere  shanty  which  served  as  a  waiting- 
room  and  office.  A  heap  of  wood  was  stacked  up  near  the  stove,  and 
Lambert  poked  the  waning  embers  and  piled  on  fresh  fuel,  whereat  a 
young  man  who  had  got  on  at  Coatesville  with  a  shot-gun  and  a  big 
bottle  for  luggage,  and  who  had  for  nearly  an  hour  been  singing  senti 
mental  snatches  to  his  own  deep  satisfaction,  now  smiled  maudlin  ap 
proval  and  companionably  held  forth  the  bottle.  "  'S  good,"  said  he, 


12  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

in  loyal  defence  of  the  stimulant  most  courteously  declined.  "  Bes' 
thing  you  can  take  these  co'  mawnin's. — Live  'bout  hyuh  an'where  ?" 

"No,"  said  Lambert,  civilly,  yet  hoping  not  to  be  further  ques 
tioned.  He  busied  himself  again  with  the  fire,  then,  rising  quickly, 
sought  his  seat. 

But  the  young  man  with  the  flask  was  gregarious  and  bubbling 
over  with  the  milk  of  human  kindness.  He  promptly  lurched  after, 
and,  flopping  down  into  the  opposite  seat,  sending  some  of  Lambert's 
belongings  clattering  to  the  floor,  held  out  his  hand. 

"  'Scuse  me,  suh,"  he  stuttered.  "  I  hope  I  ain't — 'fended  you.  My 
name's  Potts, — Barton  Potts.  We  ain't  what  we  were  befo'  the  wah, 
you  know.  But  I  know  a  gen'l'm'n — every  time.  Hope — I  ain' — 
'suited " 

"Not  by  any  means!"  protested  Lambert,  loudly  and  heartily. 
"Don't  think  of  such  a  thing!  I  simply  didn't  feel  like  drinking; 
but  I'm  a  thousand  times  obliged  to  you." 

"  Tha'z  right.  Tha'z  all  right,"  said  Mr.  Potts,  grasping  Lambert's 
hand  and  shaking  it  impressively.  "I — hello!  Wha'z  that?" 

Lambert's  sword,  encased  in  chamois-skin,  had  come  in  contact  with 
the  stranger's  elbow  and  gone  rattling  under  the  seat.  Potts  made  a 
precipitate  dive  and  fished  it  out,  regaining  his  equilibrium  after  some 
little  struggle. 

"  Goin'  to  Quitman — too  ?  Tha'z  my  home.  An'  I'm  glad — meet 

you.  I  know  a  gen'l'm'n, — an'  I'll  stan'  your  frien' 1  mean  it. 

Missur — Missur " 

"  My  name's  Lambert,"  said  the  lieutenant,  quietly  essaying  to 
relieve  Mr.  Potts  of  the  sword. 

"  Lammert  ?  Glad — meet  you — Missur  Lammert.  Where'd  you 
say  you  b'longed  ?" 

"  I'm  going  to  Tugaloo." 

"  Tu-gloo? — Tha'z  no  kin'  of  place.  C'mawn  to  Quimman.  Come 
to  my  house. — What  'n  'ell's  thiz?"  he  broke  off  suddenly. 

"  My  sword,"  said  Lambert,  simply. 

"Sword? — sword  ?"  exclaimed  Potts.  "You  goin' Tu-gloo  with 
sword?  You — Yankee  ofF'cer  like  that — wha'z  name? — Close?" 

"  A  Yankee  officer  certainly,"  laughed  Lambert.  "  I've  never  met 
Captain  Close." 

The  effect  of  this  announcement  on  Mr.  Potts  was  surprising.  It 
well-nigh  sobered  him.  He  slowly  drew  back  until  he  sat  erect,  his 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  13 

head  wobbling  a  bit  in  spite  of  his  efforts  at  self-control.  Presently  he 
began  to  speak,  slowly  and  impressively  at  first,  then  winding  up  in  a 
verbal  entanglement : 

"  Missur  Lam-p-bert,  I  didn't  know  I  was  talkin'  to — Yankee 
officer — but — I'm  a  gen'l'm'n,  suh,  an'  I  stan'  by  wh-wha — I  say.  I 
mean  to  stan'  your  frien',  suh ;  but  as  fo'  that  oth — felluh — Close — I'll 
see'm  in  'ell  first." 


II. 

It  was  sun-up  and  snapping  cold  when  the  brakeman  shouted 
"  Tugaloo,"  and  gratefully  Lambert  stepped  from  the  train  and  felt 
free  air.  Mr.  Potts  was  sleeping  soundly,  doubled  up  in  one  of  the 
seats.  The  only  wakeful  bipeds  in  sight  were  the  conductor  and  his 
trainman.  Unseen  hands  forward  had  shoved  the  trunk  out  upon  the 
frosty  boards.  The  sun  was  just  peeping  over  a  low  wooded  ridge 
before  them.  The  track  wound  away  among  some  desolate  fields  xvhere 
tiny  flakes  of  cotton  still  clung  to  the  brown  and  withered  stalks.  In 
a  cloud  of  steam  the  train  pulled  away,  leaving  Lambert  and  his  trunk 
to  look  after  each  other  as  best  they  might,  and  as  the  cloud  lifted  the 
young  officer  looked  curiously  around  him. 

He  was  standing  on  a  rude  wooden  platform  whose  shrunken  planks 
left  black,  gaping  seams  between  their  upper  faces,  now,  at  least,  beau 
tiful  in  their  thick  coat  of  sparkling  white.  Except  where  the  foot 
marks  of  the  trainmen  marred  the  smooth  expanse,  and  where  in  two 
or  three  places  the  planks  were  gone  entirely,  this  gleaming  sheet 
stretched  the  length  of  the  platform  to  where  the  white  bulk  of  his 
trunk  stood  on  end  at  the  eastern  edge.  The  charred  and  blackened 
relic  of  a  flight  of  stairs  led  from  the  platform  to  the  sloping  ground 
some  five  feet  below,  but  not  even  a  hand-rail  warned  the  unwary 
against  a  breakneck  plunge  into  space.  Part  of  the  platform  itself 
had  been  burned  away,  and  some  charred  and  blackened  posts,  sticking 
bolt  upright  from  the  ground  in  the  shape  of  a  narrow  rectangle, 
showed  that  a  wooden  building  of  some  kind  had  formerly  stood  along 
the  rear  of  the  rickety  staging.  Midway  along  its  length,  on  the 
southern  side,  a  shed  with  sloping  roof  had  been  loosely  thrown  to 
gether,  and  the  end  nearest  him,  boarded  in  and  pierced  for  a  door  and 
a  couple  of  windows,  bore  over  the  threshold  in  black  stencil  the 
legend  "  Ticket  Office."  Under  the  shed  were  a  couple  of  ploughs 

2 


14  CAPTAIN  CLOSE 

and  some  boxes.  Out  on  the  bare  slope,  midway  between  the  track 
and  a  "  snake  "  fence  that  paralleled  it  some  twenty  yards  to  the  south, 
a  dozen  bales  of  cotton  were  huddled,  three  of  them  partially  covered 
by  old  war-worn  'paulins  and  ponchos,  the  others  entirely  exposed  to 
the  rain  of  sparks  to  be  expected  from  any  passing  engine  when  the 
wind  happened  to  blow  from  across  the  track ;  and  all  of  them,  evi 
dently,  defenceless  against  the  predatory  hands  of  pilferers,  for  jagged 
rents  were  torn  in  the  coarse  sacking  of  each,  and  huge  fistfuls  of  the 
white  staple  had  been  dragged  from  a  dozen  gaping  wounds  in  every 
bale. 

The  red  soil,  showing  here  and  there  through  the  scant  and  with 
ered  herbage,  was  seamed  with  mule-  and  wheel-tracks,  and  a  few  rods 
away  a  broken-down  farm -wagon  lay  with  a  spoke-bristling  hub  close 
by  its  shattered  axle,  while  the  tire,  rolling  away  from  the  general 
wreck,  seemed  to  have  crawled  off  to  die  by  itself,  and  leaned  rusting 
against  one  of  the  charred  timbers.  The  southward  view  was  limited 
to  a  long,  low  ridge  of  ugly,  white-flecked  cotton-stalks.  Eastward  the 
sun  was  breaking  a  pathway  through  the  fringe  of  trees  along  another 
ridge,  and  a  faint  line  of  mist,  rising  sluggishly  in  the  intervening 
low  ground,  with  the  hollow  rumble  of  the  train  crossing  an  invisible 
bridge,  told  of  the  presence  of  some  slow-moving  stream.  West 
ward  the  track  came  into  view  around  a  thinly  wooded  hill-side,  with 
a  clearing  here  and  there,  in  which  some  low  cabins  were  scattered. 

With  this  cheerful  outlook  to  greet  him  at  three  points  of  the  com 
pass,  Lambert  turned  him  to  the  north.  There  was  a  siding  with  a 
switch  at  each  end,  but,  as  three  or  four  rails  were  missing  opposite  the 
west  end  of  the  platform,  it  stood  to  reason  that  the  railway  company 
found  the  other  all  that  was  necessary  to  the  traffic  of  so  bustling  a 
place  as  Tugaloo.  A  brown  freight-car  stood  on  the  siding  with  wide- 
opened  doors,  and  some  household  goods  loomed  in  plain  sight.  "There 
is  more  honesty  in  this  community  than  the  United  States  marshal 
would  give  us  to  believe,"  thought  Lambert,  as  he  recalled  the  extract 
from  a  recent  report  which  was  shown  him  at  department  head-quar 
ters.  He  laid  his  satchel  and  sword  upon  the  platform,  and,  wrapping 
his  blue  circular  about  his  shoulders,  took  a  few  steps  forward  and 
a  peep  into  the  interior  of  the  car.  From  the  midst  of  bedsteads, 
bureaus,  and  cheap,  old-fashioned  furniture,  a  quantity  of  bedding  had 
been  hauled  out  upon  the  floor,  and  from  the  midst  of  the  bedding  a 
woolly  head  protruded, — that  of  a  negro  fast  asleep. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  15 

Beyond  the  car  stood  a  dusty  open  square,  bordered  on  three  sides 
by  dingy  wooden  structures,  some  of  two  stories,  but  most  of  them  only 
one  in  height.  A  wooden  side-walk  framed  the  square  in  some  places, 
and  in  others  only  indications  of  its  former  presence  were  to  be  seen. 
The  side-walk  was  bordered  by  a  rude  railing,  to  which,  it  was  evident, 
horses  and  mules  were  tethered  during  business  hours,  for  at  one  of  the 
rails,  even  now,  sprawled  upon  the  soft,  hoof-pawed  dust,  a  long-eared 
quadruped  was  half  hanging  by  the  bridle-rein,  while  the  dilapidated 
saddle  had  worked  around  during  the  night  until  it  settled  upon  the 
animal's  side. 

Judging  from  such  signs  or  legends  as  were  visible  over  the  door 
ways  of  Tugaloo,  Lambert's  impressions  were  that  the  vending  of  in 
toxicating  drinks  was  the  principal  industry,  as  there  were  three  saloons 
to  one  store  devoted  to  general  merchandise, — which  establishment, 
painted  white  and  with  an  air  of  prosperity  and  a  flock  of  cotton-bales 
around  it,  bore  the  sign  of  I.  Cohen,  and  told  pathetically  that  the 
pioneers  of  a  relentless  and  one-sided  trade  had  already  made  their 
lodgement  in  the  midst  of  a  helpless  community. 

It  was  sunrise,  and  not  a  soul  was  apparently  astir.  A  street  led 
away  northward  at  right  angles  to  the  main  front  of  the  square,  and 
straggling  houses  lined  it  at  intervals  on  either  side.  One  of  these, 
with  a  belfry,  at  the  corner  of  the  plaza,  seemed  to  be  a  meeting-house 
of  some  kind,  possibly  the  pro  tempore  substitute  for  the  county  court 
house,  thought  Lambert,  for  the  centre  of  the  square  was  still  heaped 
with  charred  and  blackened  beams  and  bricks  where  once  the  court 
house  stood. 

As  for  the  camp  or  quarters  of  his  future  comrades  and  associates, 
Lambert  could  see  nothing  that  in  the  least  resembled  a  military  station, 
and,  do  what  he  could,  the  boy  found  it  impossible  to  down  the  faintly 
heartsick,  homesick  feeling  that  speedily  took  possession  of  him.  A 
dog  would  have  been  welcome  as  companion,  but  there  was  not  even  a 
stray  dog.  For  a  moment  Lambert  thought  of  arousing  the  negro,  but 
after  one  glance  at  the  wide,  red  cavern  of  his  mouth  and  the  emptied 
flask  lying  close  to  the  frowzy  head,  he  decided  in  favor  of  the  mule. 

A  short  walk  brought  him  to  the  side  of  the  prostrate  creature,  and 
a  long  pull  induced  his  muleship  to  stagger  to  his  feet,  but  in  his  strug 
gles  he  snapped  the  old  headstall,  and  the  remnant  of  the  bit  and  bridle 
dropped  into  the  dust.  It  was  not  until  the  vagrant  stood  erect  that 
Lambert  discovered  from  the  U.  S.  brand  that  he  was,  or  had  been, 


16  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

government  property.  The  saddle,  too,  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the 
old-fashioned,  black-skirted,  pig-skin  McClellans,  so  familiar  during 
the  war  days.  As  the  mule  seemed  only  half  awake  and  unaware 
as  yet  of  his  freedom,  Lambert  first  essayed  to  reset  the  saddle,  to  which 
he  submitted  without  objection,  and  then  to  replace  the  bridle,  to  which 
he  would  not  submit  at  all,  but  with  lowered  front  and  menacing  hoof 
turned  him  about  and  jogged  over  to  where  some  wisps  of  hay  lay 
scattered  in  front  of  a  shanty  labelled  "  Post-Office."  For  ten  minutes 
Lambert  exercised  his  arts  in  vain  effort  to  recapture  that  mule,  and 
then,  in  sheer  disgust,  threw  the  bridle  on  the  side-walk,  picked  up  an 
abandoned  half-brick,  and  let  the  mule  have  it  in  the  flank.  He 
merely  twitched  his  scraggy  hide,  raised  one  instant  the  nearmost  hoof, 
but  never  lifted  his  head.  The  brute  was  hungry  from  long  fasting, 
and  did  not  mean  to  be  disturbed,  and  Lambert,  who  had  eaten  nothing 
since  the  previous  day,  was  presently  in  full  sympathy.  Once  more  he 
looked  around  in  search  of  some  human  being,  and  found  himself  con 
fronting  a  citizen  in  shirt-sleeves  and  a  tangled  head  of  hair,  who,  lean 
ing  out  of  a  second-story  window,  was  nevertheless  not  twenty  feet 
away.  For  a  moment  each  regarded  the  other  without  a  word.  Then 
the  native  spoke : 

"  What  ye  tryin'  to  do  ?" 

"  I  was  trying  to  catch  that  mule." 

"  Want  him  f  r  anything  ?" 

"  No :  only  I  found  him  tangled  in  his  reins,  and  he  got  away 
after  I  loosed  him." 

The  native  regarded  the  new-comer  curiously.  Lambert  had  slung 
his  blue  cape  over  the  hitching-rail  during  his  brief  pursuit  of  the  un 
grateful  beast,  and  his  neat-fitting  suit  of  tweed  was  something  new  to 
Tugaloo  eyes.  So  was  the  jaunty  drab  Derby. 

"  You  don't  b'long  roun'  yere,  do  you  ?"  queried  Tugaloo  next. 

"  I  don't ;  and  the  Lord  knows  I  don't  want  to ;  and  I'd  be  glad 
to  find  some  way  of  getting  myself  and  my  trunk,  yonder,  out  to  camp. 
Can  you  suggest  any  ?" 

"  We-ell,  you  might  walk.  Don't  reckon  your  trunk  kin,  though. 
Know  the  way  ?" 

"No." 

"  Foller  the  track  down  thar  a  piece,  an'  you'll  come  to  a  path 
along  the  branch.  It'll  take  you  right  in  'mongst  the  tents.  'Tain't 
more  'n  a  few  rawds." 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  17 

"  Thank  you,  my  friend.  You're  the  first  live  man  I've  found. 
I  suppose  I  can  send  in  for  my  trunk." 

"  Reckon  ye  can.     They've  gawt  mules  an'  wagons  enough." 

Lambert  gathered  up  his  belongings  and  trudged  away.  He  did 
not  mean  to  yield  to  the  feeling  of  depression  that  was  struggling  to 
possess  him,  yet  the  blue  devils  were  tugging  at  his  heart-strings. 
Wasn't  this  just  what  his  classmates  had  prophesied  would  happen  if 
he  went  into  the  infantry  ?  Could  any  service  be  much  more  joyless, 
uneventful,  forlorn,  than  this  promised  to  be  ?  "  Mark  Tapley  him 
self  would  go  to  pieces  in  such  a  place,"  he  had  heard  some  one  at 
head-quarters  say  of  Tugaloo,  but  he  meant  to  out-Tapley  Mark  if 
need  be,  and  nobody  should  know  how  much  he  wished  he  hadn't  been 
assigned  to  this  sort  of  duty  and  this  particular  regiment, — certainly 
not  his  classmates,  and,  above  all,  not  the  loving  mother  at  home. 
Heavens  !  how  unlike  was  this  bleared,  wasted,  desolate  land  to  the 
sweet  and  smiling  New  England  vale  where  his  boyhood  had  been 
spent,  to  the  thickly-settled,  thrifty,  bustling  shores  of  the  Merrimac! 

He  had  walked  nearly  a  mile  and  had  seen  no  sign  of  camp  or 
sentry,  but  on  a  sudden  the  path  left  the  brushwood  beside  the  sluggish 
"  branch,"  rounded  a  projecting  knoll,  and  was  lost  in  a  rough,  red 
clay,  country  road.  A  fence,  with  a  thick  hedge  of  wild-rose-bushes, 
was  to  his  left, — leaves  and  roses  long  since  withered, — and  over  the 
tops  he  caught  sight  of  the  roof  and  upper  story  of  some  old  Southern 
homestead,  at  which  he  had  a  better  peep  from  the  gate-way  farther 
along.  A  path  of  red  brick  led  to  the  flight  of  steps,  broad  and 
bordered  by  pretentious  balustrades.  Dingy  white  columns  supported 
the  roof  of  a  wide  piazza.  Smoke  was  drifting  from  a  battered  pipe 
projecting  from  the  red  brick  chimney  at  the  north  end,  and  the  morn 
ing  air  was  faintly  scented  with  a  most  appetizing  fragrance  of  broiling 
ham.  It  made  Lambert  ravenous. 

Somewhere  around  the  next  bend  in  the  road,  beyond  the  northward 
extremity  of  the  old  fence,  he  could  hear  the  sound  of  voices  and  a 
splashing  of  water.  Hastening  on,  he  found  himself  overlooking  a 
level  "  bench"  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  a  deep  bend  of  the  stream 
and  partially  separated  from  the  red  roadway  by  a  fringe  of  stunted 
trees  and  thick,  stubborn  bushes ;  and  here,  in  an  irregular  square, 
Lambert  came  face  to  face  with  the  encampment  of  the  first  company, 
outside  of  West  Point,  it  was  ever  his  luck  to  join.  At  that  particular 
moment  he  was  just  about  ready  to  resolve  it  should  be  the  last. 

2* 


18  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

On  two  sides  of  the  square,  facing  each  other  and  perhaps  twenty 
yards  apart,  were  the  "  A  "  tents  of  the  company,  ten  on  a  side.  At 
the  flank  farthest  from  the  road  and  pitched  so  as  to  face  the  centre  of 
the  enclosure  was  a  wall  tent,  backed  by  one  or  two  of  the  smaller  pat 
tern.  Nearest  the  road  was  a  second  wall  tent,  used,  possibly,  by  tlie 
guard, — though  no  guards  were  visible, — the  white  canvas  cover  of  an 
army  wagon,  and  a  few  more  scattered  "A"  tents.  Cook-fires  had  been 
ablaze  and  were  now  smouldering  about  the  wagon.  Several  men  in 
gray  woollen  shirts  were  washing  their  faces  at  the  stream  ;  others,  in 
light-blue  overcoats,  were  sauntering  about  the  tents,  some  of  whose 
occupants,  as  could  be  easily  seen,  were  still  asleep. 

Standing  at  the  edge  of  the  winding  road,  and  thinking  how  easy 
a  matter  it  would  be  to  toss  a  hand-grenade  into  the  midst  of  the  camp, 
Lambert  paused  a  moment  and  studied  the  scene.  Resting  on  his 
sword,  still  in  its  chamois  case,  with  his  cloak  and  satchel  thrown  over 
his  shoulder,  the  young  officer  became  suddenly  awan  of  a  man  wear 
ing  the  chevrons  of  a  corporal  who,  fishing-rod  in  hand,  was  standing 
just  beyond  a  clump  of  bushes  below  and  looking  up  at  him  with  an 
expression  on  his  shrewd,  "  Bowery-boy"  face  in  which  impudence  and 
interest  were  about  equally  mingled.  So  soon  as  he  found  that  he  was 
observed,  the  corporal  cocked  his  head  on  one  side,  and,  with  arms 
akimbo  and  a  quizzical  grin  on  his  freckled  phiz,  patronizingly  in 
quired, — 

"Well,  young  feller,  who  made  them  clothes?" 

Lambert  considered  a  moment  before  making  reply.  One  of  his 
favorite  instructors  at  the  Academy  had  spoken  to  the  graduating  class 
about  the  splendid  timber  to  be  found  among  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
army.  "  They  are  like  so  many  old  oaks,"  said  he,  and  some  of  Lam 
bert's  chums  had  never  forgotten  it.  Neither  had  Lambert.  "  This," 
said  he  to  himself,  "  is  possibly  one  of  the  scrub  oaks.  I  assume  he 
doesn't  imagine  me  to  be  an  officer,  and,  in  any  event,  he  could  say  so 
and  I  couldn't  prove  the  contrary.  Ergo,  I'll  let  him  into  the  secret 
without  letting  him  imagine  I'm  nettled." 

"  They  were  made  by  my  tailor,  corporal,"  said  he.  "He  also  made 
the  uniform  which  I,  perhaps,  should  have  put  on  before  coming  out  to 
camp."  ("  That  ought  to  fetch  him,"  thought  he.)  "  Where  will  I 
find  Captain  Close?" 

"He's  over  there,"  said  the  corporal,  with  a  careless  jerk  of  the 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  19 

head  in  the  direction  of  the  opposite  wall  tent.  "Then  I  s'pose  you're 
the  new  lieutenant  the  fellers  have  been  talking  about?" 

"  I  am ;  and  would  you  mind  telling  me  how  long  you've  been  in 
service  ?" 

"  Me  ?  Oh,  I  reckon  about  two  months, — longer  'n  you  have, 
anyhow.  You  ain't  joined  yet,  have  you  ?"  And  the  corporal  was 
nibbling  at  a  twig  now  and  looking  up  in  good-humored  interest. 
Then,  as  Lambert  found  no  words  for  immediate  reply,  he  went  on, 
"  Cap's  awake,  if  you  want  to  see  him."  And,  amazed  at  this  recep 
tion,  yet  not  knowing  whether  to  be  indignant  or  amused,  Lambert 
sprang  down  the  pathway,  crossed  the  open  space  between  the  tents,  a 
dozen  of  the  men  starting  up  to  stare  at  but  none  to  salute  him,  and 
halted  before  the  tent  of  his  company  commander. 

Sitting  just  within  the  half-opened  flap,  a  thick-set,  burly  man  of 
middle  age  was  holding  in  his  left  hand  a  coarse  needle,  while  with 
the  right  he  was  making  unsuccessful  jabs  with  some  black  thread  at 
the  eye  thereof.  So  intent  was  he  upon  this  task  that  he  never  heard 
Lambert's  light  footfall  nor  noted  his  coming,  and  the  lieutenant,  while 
pausing  a  moment  irresolute,  took  quick  observation  of  the  stranger 
and  his  surroundings.  He  was  clad  in  the  gray  shirt  and  light-blue 
trousers  such  as  were  worn  by  the  rank  and  file.  An  ordinary  sol 
dier's  blouse  was  thrown  over  the  back  of  the  camp-stool  on  which  he 
sat,  and  his  feet  were  encased  in  the  coarse  woollen  socks  and  heavy 
brogans  with  leathern  thongs,  just  exactly  such  as  the  soldier  cook  was 
wearing  at  the  hissing  fire  a  few  paces  away.  His  suspenders  were 
hung  about  his  waist,  and  in  his  lap,  seat  uppermost  and  showing  a 
rent  three  inches  in  length,  were  a  pair  of  uniform  trousers  with  a 
narrow  welt  of  dark  blue  along  the  outer  seam.  They  were  thin  and 
shiny,  like  bombazine,  in  places,  and  the  patch  which  seemed  destined 
to  cover  the  rent  was  five  shades  too  dark  for  the  purpose.  His  hands 
were  brown  and  knotted  and  hard.  He  wore  a  silver  ring  on  the  third 
finger  of  the  left.  His  face  was  brown  as  his  hands,  and  clean  shaved 
(barring  the  stubble  of  two  days'  growth)  everywhere,  except  the  heavy 
"  goatee,"  which,  beginning  at  the  corners  of  his  broad,  firm  mouth, 
covered  thickly  his  throat  and  chin.  His  eyes  were  large,  clear,  dark 
brown  in  hue,  and  heavily  shaded.  His  hair,  close-cropped  and 
sprinkled  with  gray,  was  almost  black. 

The  morning  air  was  keen,  yet  no  fire  blazed  in  the  little  camp- 
stove  behind  him,  and  the  fittings  of  the  tent,  so  far  as  the  visitor 


20  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

could  see,  were  of  the  plainest  description.  Not  caring  to  stand  there 
longer,  Lambert  cleared  his  throat  and  began  : 

"  I  am  looking  for  Captain  Close." 

Whereupon  the  man  engaged  in  threading  his  needle  slowly  opened 
the  left  eye  he  had  screwed  tight  shut,  and,  as  slowly  raising  his  head, 
calmly  looked  his  visitor  over  and  at  last  slowly  replied, — 

"  That's  my  name." 


III. 

Newton  Lambert  has  more  than  once  in  the  course  of  his  years  of 
service  been  heard  to  say  that  of  all  the  odd  sensations  he  ever  expe 
rienced  that  which  possessed  him  on  the  occasion  of  his  reporting  for 
duty  with  his  first  company  was  the  oddest.  Accustomed  during  his 
four  years  of  cadet  life  to  behave  with  punctilious  respect  in  the  pres 
ence  of  officers,  young  or  old,  and  accustomed  also  through  his  two 
months'  detail  at  the  Academy  that  summer  to  be  treated  with  even 
the  exaggerated  deference  which  the  old  non-commissioned  officers 
seemed  to  delight  in  showing  to  young  graduates,  Lambert  was  un 
prepared  for  the  hail-fellow-well-met  nature  of  his  reception  by  the 
enlisted  men  and  the  absolute  impassiveness  of  his  one  brother  officer. 
That  it  was  utterly  different  from  the  customs  obtaining  elsewhere  in 
the  regular  service  he  knew  very  well.  In  visiting  classmates  already 
on  duty  with  their  batteries  among  the  New  York  and  New  England 
forts,  as  well  as  during  his  brief  stay  at  the  barracks,  he  had  noted  the 
scrupulous  deference  of  the  veteran  sergeants  when  addressing  their 
officers.  He  could  understand  awkwardness  and  clumsiness  among 
the  recruits,  but  the  idea  of  a  corporal  chaffing  him  on  the  cut  of  his 
clothes  and — the  idea  of  a  two  months'  recruit  being  a  corporal,  any 
how  !  Never  in  the  tales  told  of  the  Fire  Zouaves  of  '61  had  he 
heard  of  anything  much  more  free-and-easy  than  the  manners  of  this 
camp  of  regulars.  Never  in  his  wildest  dream  had  he  figured  such  a 
specimen  of  the  commissioned  officer  as  he  had  found  in  Captain  Close. 
In  the  contemplation  of  this  character  the  go-as-you-please  style  of  the 
enlisted  man  sank  into  insignificance.  Long  years  afterwards  Lambert 
used  to  go  over  this  meeting  in  his  mind,  and  for  two  years,  often  im 
portuned,  he  would  convulse  his  brother  officers  by  vivid  description 
of  it.  But  there  came  a  time  when  they  no  longer  laughed  and  he  no 
longer  told  the  story  save  to  those  he  loved  and  trusted  utterly. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  21 

Aroused  by  some  unusual  chatter  among  the  men,  the  first  sergeant 
of  Company  "  G,"  smoking  a  pipe  while  working  over  a  ration-return, 
stuck  his  head  out  of  his  tent  and  saw  a  young  gentleman  in  a  light- 
colored  suit,  courteously  raising  a  drab  Derby  in  his  kid-gloved  hand, 
while  he  stood  erect  with  soldierly  ease  before  the  company  commander. 
Sergeant  Burns  also  noted  that  some  of  the  men  were  tittering  and  all 
of  them  looking  on.  One  glance  was  enough.  The  sergeant  dropped 
pen  and  pipe  and  came  out  of  his  den  with  a  single  bound,  buttoning 
his  blouse  and  glaring  about  him  as  he  did  so.  "  Hush  your  d — d 
gab,  you!"  he  fiercely  growled  at  the  nearest  group.  "Get  into  your 
coats,  there !"  he  swore  at  another,  while  with  menacing  hand  he 
motioned  to  others  still,  whose  costume  was  even  more  primitive,  to 
scramble  back  to  their  tents.  In  ten  seconds  silence  reigned  through 
out  the  camp  almost  as  complete  as  that  which  was  maintained,  for 
that  time,  at  the  tent  of  the  commanding  officer.  Lambert  actually  did 
not  know  what  to  say  in  response  to  his  superior's  announcement.  It 
was  full  ten  seconds,  or  more,  before  he  determined  in  what  form  to 
couch  his  next  remark.  He  had  intended  to  say,  "  I  have  the  honor 
to  report  for  duty,  sir ;"  but  a  vague  suspicion  possessed  him  that  this 
might  be  some  game  at  his  expense, — some  prank  such  as  old  cadets 
played  upon  "  plebes."  He  compromised,  therefore,  between  his  pre 
conception  of  a  strictly  soldierly  report  and  his  sense  of  what  might 
be  due  his  own  dignity.  "  My  name  is  Lambert,"  said  he.  "  And  I 
am  here  for  duty  as  second  lieutenant." 

Slowly  the  man  in  the  camp-chair  laid  down  his  work,  sticking  the 
needle  into  the  flap  of  the  tent  and  hanging  the  thread  upon  it.  Then 
he  heaved  up  out  of  the  chair,  hung  the  damaged  trousers  over  its 
back,  and  came  ponderously  forward.  Not  a  vestige  of  a  smile  light 
ened  his  face.  He  looked  the  young  gentleman  earnestly  in  the  eye 
and  slowly  extended  his  big,  brown,  hairy  hand.  Seeing  that  it  was 
meant  for  him,  Lambert  shifted  his  hat  into  the  left,  leaning  his  sword 
against  the  tent-pole,  and  his  dainty  kid — a  wild  extravagance  so  soon 
after  the  war — was  for  an  instant  clasped,  then  slowly  released.  Cap 
tain  Close  unquestionably  had  a  powerful  "  grip." 

"  How'd  you  come  ?"  he  asked.  "  Kind  of  expected  you  Monday 
evenin' — out  from  Quitman." 

"  The  general  kept  me  over  a  day  or  two  to  let  me  see  New  Or 
leans.  He  told  me  that  you  would  be  notified,  sir.  I  hope  you  got 
the  letter?" 


22  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"  Oh,  yes.  That  was  all  right.  There  was  no  hurry.  I  didn't 
know  as  they  could  get  passes  over  the  Northern.  I  s'pose  the  chief 
quartermaster  fixed  it  for  you,  though?"  And  the  brown  eyes 
searched  questioningly  the  young  officer's  face. 

"  Passes  ?     No,  sir ;  I  bought  my  ticket  through " 

"  No !  Why,  you  needn't  have  done  that.  The  Quitman  road's 
biddin'  for  all  the  government  freight  it  can  get  now.  They'd  have 
given  you  a  pass  in  a  minute.  I  s'pose  you  want  to  be  quartermaster 
and  commissary  ?"  And  again  the  brown  eyes  looked  almost  wistfully 
into  the  blue. 

"  I  ?  No  indeed,  sir  :  I  don't  know  anything  but  a  little  tactics. 
What  I  most  want" — with  a  glance  around  and  an  apologetic  laugh — • 
"  is  a  chance  to  wash  off  the  cinders — and  something  to  eat.  I'm 
hungry  as  a  wolf." 

The  captain  looked  troubled.  "  I've  had  my  grub ;  so've  the  men, 
'cept  those  that  come  back  late  in  the  night — been  up  to  Buckatubbee 
with  the  marshal.  Did  you  try  over  at  Toog'loo  ?" 

"  Everybody  was  asleep  over  there.  I  left  my  trunk  at  the  rail 
way  and  walked  out." 

"  Why,  I  told  the  sergeant  to  send  a  mule  in  last  night  on  the 
chance  of  your  comin'  by  the  '  Owl.'  Didn't  anybody  meet  you?" 

"  There  was  a  mule,  but  no  body,"  laughed  Lambert,  "  except  a 
darky  asleep  in  a  freight-car.  The  mule  was  lying  in  the  dirt,  and 
snapped  his  headstall  when  I  tried  to  raise  him." 

"  What  became  of  him  ?  He  didn't  get  away,  did  he  ?"  asked 
Close,  in  great  anxiety. 

"He  didn't  try  to,"  answered  Lambert,  in  some  amusement. 
"  Like  the  eminent  head  of  the  late  unpleasantness,  all  he  asked  was 
to  be  let  alone.  I  left  him  browsing  in  the  public  square." 

"  And  the  bridle  an'  saddle,  too  ?  Great  Peter  !  That's  bad.  Some 
lousy  nigger  's  got  him  by  this  time,  or  his  trappin's  at  least,  an'  he'll 
swear  the  Freedman's  Bureau  gave  him  the  hull  outfit,  and  it'll  be 
stopped  against  my  pay.  Sergeant  /"  he  called :  "  wish  you'd  go 
right  down  town  an'  catch  up  that  mule  an' " 

"  /  can't  go,  sir,"  promptly  answered  Sergeant  Burns,  his  hand 
going  up  in  unaccustomed  salute  in  deference  to  the  presence  of  the 
new  officer.  "  I'm  busy  with  them  ration-returns.  Here,  Finney,  you 
go." 

"  Go  where  ?"  said  a  young  soldier  squatting  at  his  tent  door  and 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  23 

greasing  a  pair  of  shoes  with  a  bit  of  bacon-rind.  He  hardly  deigned 
to  look  up. 

"  The  captain  wants  you  to  go  and  get  that  saddle-mule  he  sent  up 
last  night.  Jake  must  have  gone  asleep  and  forgot  him." 

"  Would  it  be  possible  to  send  a  wagon  for  my  trunk  ?"  interposed 
Lambert  at  this  juncture,  appealing  to  his  superior.  Close  hesitated 
and  made  no  immediate  reply.  It  was  the  sergeant  who  took  the  re 
sponsibility  : 

"PR  'tend  to  it,  if  you  please,  sir.  The  wagon's  going  up  in  ten 
minutes  to  haul  some  grain. — Be  lively  now,  Finney.  Drop  them 
shoes  and  start."  And  Finney,  conscious,  possibly,  of  some  change  in 
the  military  atmosphere,  gathered  himself  together  and  vanished. 

Meantime,  in  his  anxiety  about  the  government  property  thus 
placed  in  jeopardy,  the  captain  seemed  lost  to  all  thought  of  the  new 
comer's  comfort.  It  was  Sergeant  Burns  who  came  forward  with  a 
camp-stool  and  proffer  of  further  hospitality. 

"  If  the  lieutenant  can  put  up  with  such  rations,  I'll  send  some 
thing  from  the  cook-fire,  sir,"  said  he,  doubtfully,  looking  at  his  com 
mander  very  much  as  though  he  thought  it  high  time  for  that  official 
to  suggest  something  better.  Lambert  said  he  should  be  most  grateful 
if  that  could  be  done — and  if  there  were  no  objections ;  and  he,  too, 
looked  expectantly  at  the  senior  officer. 

"I  guess  that's  about  the  best  we  can  do,"  said  Close,  slowly. 
"  'Tain't  what  you've  been  accustomed  to,  but  it's  what  /  always  eat. 
Send  us  up  somethin',  sergeant, — enough  for  two:  I'll  take  another 
snack  with  the  lieutenant." 

And  in  less  than  five  minutes  Lambert  and  his  new  comrade  were 
seated  by  a  little  fire  on  which  a  tin  coffee-pot  was  hissing,  and,  with  a 
broad  pine  shelf  upon  their  knees,  from  big  tin  mugs  and  broad  tin 
plates,  were  discussing  a  smoking  repast  of  pork  and  beans,  to  the  ac 
companiment  of  bread  and  syrup  and  creamless  coffee.  "  It's  the  way 
I  always  prefer  to  live  when  I'm  in  the  field,"  said  Close,  "  and  it  only 
costs  you  nine  dollars  a  month." 

Lambert  was  too  hungry  not  to  relish  even  such  a  breakfast.  He 
fancied  he  heard  something  that  sounded  greatly  like  a  suppressed 
chuckle  on  the  part  of  the  soldier  cook  at  his  senior's  remark  upon  the 
cost  of  living  in  the  field,  but  sensations  and  experiences  were  crowd 
ing  thickly  upon  him  and  there  was  little  time  for  trifles. 

Through  the  good  offices  of  Sergeant  Burns,  a  wall  tent  was  pitched 


24  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

that  morning  for  "  the  new  lieutenant"  to  the  left  of  the  domicile  of 
the  company  commander;  a  wooden  bunk  was  knocked  up  in  an  "A" 
tent  in  the  back,  and  Lambert  began  unpacking  his  trunk  and  setting 
up  housekeeping. 

"  I  suppose  I  can  get  what  furniture  I  want  in  town,"  said  he  to 
Close. 

"Depends  on  what  you  want,"  replied  the  senior,  warily,  "and 
whether  you  care  to  throw  away  your  money.  What'd  you  want  to 
get?  They  will  skin  the  last  cent  out  of  you  there  at  Cohen's." 

"  I  merely  want  some  cheap  truck  for  camp,  and  some  wash-stand 
fixings,"  Lambert  answered,  falling  into  the  vernacular  of  his  comrade 
with  the  ease  of  one  just  out  of  the  national  school,  where  every  known 
American  dialect  can  be  heard, — "  things  I  can  throw  away  when  we 
leave." 

Close  was  silent  a  moment.  "  /  can  let  you  have  everything  you 
need,  'f  you  ain't  particular  'bout  their  bein'  new.  They're  just  as 
good  as  anything  you  can  buy,  and  won't  cost  you  near  so  much." 
Then,  after  a  little  hesitation,  "  They  ain't  mine  to  give,  or  I'd  let  you 
have  them  for  nothing." 

Lambert  had  precious  little  money  left,  even  after  drawing  his 
November  pay  in  New  Orleans ;  but  he  had  a  big  mileage  account  to 
collect,  for  in  those  days  nothing  was  paid  to  the  young  graduate  in 
advance,  even  though  he  had  to  find  his  way  by  the  Isthmus  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia.  He  thanked  his  comrade,  and  by  evening 
was  put  in  possession  of  an  odd  lot  of  camp-furniture,  some  items  of 
which  were  in  good  repair  and  others  valuable  only  as  relics  of  the 
war.  A  camp-mattress  and  some  chairs  bore  the  name  of  Tighe,  and 
the  soldier  who  carried  them  in  remarked  to  his  chum,  "  They  didn't 
burn  everything  after  the  lieutenant  died,  after  all,  did  they  ?"  From 
which  Lambert  drew  the  inference  that  the  property  in  question  had 
formerly  belonged  to  an  officer  of  that  name  who  succumbed  to  the 
epidemic  of  the  previous  year. 

But  the  principal  question  remaining  unsolved  was  that  of  sub 
sistence.  Waring  and  Pierce  had  told  him  that  in  all  probability  he 
would  find  that  Close  was  living  on  soldier  fare  and  had  no  "  mess 
arrangements"  whatever.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  proved  to  be  the 
case, — and  Lambert  inquired  if  there  were  no  possibility  of  finding 
board.  "  Yes,"  said  Close  ;  "  Mr.  Parmelee,  the  deputy  marshal,  lives 
up  the  road  about  half  a  mile,  and  he  told  me  to  say  he'd  be  glad  to 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  25 

accommodate  you."  Lambert  lunched  in  camp  at  noon,  and  about 
three  o'clock  came  forth  from  his  tent  buttoned  to  the  throat  in  his 
handsomely  fitting  uniform,  his  forage-cap  cocked  jauntily  over  his 
right  eye,  and  a  pair  of  white  gloves  in  his  hand.  A  soldier  slouching 
across  the  open  space  in  front  shifted  to  the  opposite  hand  the  bucket 
he  was  carrying,  and  saluted.  Close  surveyed  his  trim  subaltern  with 
out  changing  a  muscle  of  his  face. 

"  What  do  they  charge  you  extra  for  them  buttons  ?"  he  finally  in 
quired.  Lambert  said  he  didn't  know.  They  were  on  the  coat  when 
it  came  from  the  tailor's.  Would  the  captain  kindly  direct  him  to 
Mr.  Parmelee's  and  permit  him  to  go  thither  ?  The  captain  gravely 
said  he  need  not  ask  permission  just  to  leave  camp, — even  the  men 
didn't  do  that, — and  gave  him  the  needed  instructions,  winding  up  by 
saying,  "  Got  your  pistol  ?"  Lambert  answered  that  he  never  carried 
one. 

"  You'll  have  to,  here,"  said  Close,  "  or  be  out  of  fashion  entirely. 
I  ain't  got  one  to  lend,  but  if  you've  a  mind  to  pay  less  than  cost  I've 
got  one  that'll  just  suit  you,  strap  and  holster  complete."  In  five  min 
utes  the  trade  was  made,  and  Lambert  had  only  eleven  dollars  left  when 
he  started  to  hunt  up  Mr.  Parmelee. 

Close  watched  the  erect  figure  of  the  young  fellow  as  he  stepped 
briskly  away.  So  did  the  first  sergeant.  Midway  across  the  open 
space  between  the  tents  half  a  dozen  of  the  men  were  squatting,  in  the 
bright  sunshine,  pipes  in  full  blast,  engaged  in  a  game  of  cards  that 
looked  suspiciously  like  draw  poker,  a  gray  blanket  being  outspread 
and  little  piles  of  white  field  beans  decorating  its  outer  edge  at  different 
points.  Surrounding  the  players  were  perhaps  a  dozen  spectators,  in 
various  costumes  more  or  less  soldierly.  At  sight  of  Mr.  Lambert  in 
his  trim  frock-coat,  some  of  the  number  faced  half  towards  him  ;  some, 
as  though  embarrassed,  began  to  edge  away.  The  gamblers  calmly 
continued  their  game.  If  the  young  officer  had  looked  as  though  he 
did  not  notice  them,  the  chances  are  that,  though  he  passed  within  ten 
feet  of  the  group,  no  one  of  the  party  would,  in  proper  and  soldierly 
style,  have  noticed  him,  but  Lambert  had  seen  enough  "slouching"  for 
one  day,  and  his  youthful  soul  was  up  in  arms.  He  looked  squarely 
at  the  two  men  nearest  him  as  he  rapidly  approached,  whereupon  one  of 
them  nervously  tugged  at  the  sleeve  of  a  third.  Others,  after  one  fur 
tive  glance,  pretended  they  did  not  see  the  coming  officer  and  became 
absorbed  in  the  game.  Ten  strides,  and  he  was  opposite  the  group  and 
B  3 


26  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

not  a  hand  had  been  raised  in  salute,  not  a  man  was  "standing  atten 
tion."  Then  he  halted  short,  saying  not  a  word,  but  the  two  men 
nearest  knew  what  was  lacking,  and,  in  a  shamefaced,  shambling  way, 
brought  their  hands  up  to  the  cap  visor.  One  of  these  was  a  corporal, 
and  two  other  non-commissioned  officers  were  among  the  players.  For 
a  moment  there  was  an  embarrassed  silence.  Then  Lambert  spoke, — 
rather  quietly,  too,  for  him: 

"  Corporal,  have  these  men  never  been  taught  the  salute,  and  when 
to  use  it  ?" 

A  sergeant  among  the  players  slowly  found  his  feet.  Others  seemed 
to  try  to  slink  behind  their  fellows.  The  corporal  turned  red,  looked 
foolish,  and  only  mumbled  inarticulately. 

"  What  say  you,  sergeant  ?"  inquired  Lambert. 

"  Why,  yes,  sir,"  said  Sergeant  McBride,  uncomfortably.  "  So  far 
as  I'm  concerned,  I  can  honestly  say  I  did  not  see  the  lieutenant 
coming ;  but,  to  tell  the  truth,  sir,  we've  got  out  of  the  habit  of  it 
in  the  company." 

"  Then  all  these  men  who  are  still  seated  here  know  they  should  be 
up  and  standing  attention?"  asked  Lambert,  as  coolly  as  he  could, 
though  his  blue  eyes  were  beginning  to  flash.  He  had  heard  some 
tittering  among  the  gamesters,  two  more  of  whom  were  now  getting  up. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  at  least  most  of  them  do.  Only,  Captain  Close  don't 
seem  to  mind,  and " 

"  That'll  do. — I  am  waiting  for  you  two,"  said  Lambert.  And  the 
two  who,  hanging  their  heads,  had  been  tittering  into  each  other's 
faces,  finding  their  time  had  come,  slowly  and  awkwardly  found  their 
feet,  but  not  the  erect  position  of  the  soldier. 

"  So  far  so  good,"  said  Lambert,  calmly. — "  Now,  sergeant,  explain 
the  rest  to  them,  as  they  seem  to  be  uninstructed  recruits." 

There  was  a  general  titter  at  this :  one  of  the  two  was  an  ex- 
sergeant  of  ten  years'  service, — one  of  John  Barleycorn's  defeated 
wrestlers.  His  eyes  snapped  with  wrath,  but  he  knew  the  lieutenant 
"  had  the  best  of  him." 

"  Don't  make  it  necessary  for  me  to  repeat  the  lesson,"  said  Lam 
bert  before  moving  on ;  "  especially  you,  sir."  And  the  ex-sergeant 
was  plainly  the  man  indicated. 

Up  at  the  end  of  the  row  Sergeant  Burns  brought  his  broad  palm 
down  on  his  thigh  with  a  whack  of  delight,  then  glanced  over  to  see 
how  the  captain  took  it. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  27 

The  captain  was  carefully  counting  over  the  "  greenbacks"  he  had 
just  received,  and,  with  these  in  hand,  turned  into  the  dark  recesses  of 
his  farther  tent.  The  episode  in  front  was  of  minor  importance. 

"  You  got  a  rakin'  down,  Riggs,"  laughed  some  of  the  men  as  the 
lieutenant  was  lost  to  sight  beyond  the  wagon,  while  the  victim  of  his 
brief  reprimand  glowered  angrily  after  him. 

"  Dam  young  squirt  I"  snarled  the  fellow.  "  I'll  learn  him  a  lesson 
yet." 

"No,  you  won't,  Riggs,"  was  the  quick  rejoinder  of  McBride. 
"  He  was  perfectly  right,  as  you  ought  to  have  sense  enough  to  know. 
I'm  glad,  for  one,  to  see  it,  for  this  company  has  simply  been  goin'  to 
the  dogs  for  the  last  six  months." 


IV. 

Lambert's  nerves  were  tingling  a  trifle  and  his  thoughts  were  not  the 
most  cheerful  as  he  went  away.  That  he  should  find  his  company 
commander  a  miser,  a  recluse,  and  something  of  a  mystery,  had  all 
been  foreshadowed.  But  that  discipline  should  have  been  abandoned 
in  "  G "  Company  was  quite  another  thing.  Farnham,  the  captain 
proper,  was  an  officer  who  had  held  high  command  in  the  volunteers, — 
too  high,  indeed,  to  serve  with  equanimity  under  the  field-officer  now 
at  the  head  of  the  regiment,  who  had  had  no  war  service  whatever. 
Farnham  was  within  a  few  files  of  promotion  to  majority,  and  there 
fore  despised  company  duty.  So  long  as  his  company  had  been 
stationed  in  the  city,  furnishing  guards  and  orderlies  for  the  various 
officials  then  quartered  there,  he  remained  with  it,  and  occasionally  saw 
a  portion  of  it  on  Sunday  morning.  Then,  after  two  years  of  this 
demoralizing  service,  came  the  months  of  detachment  duty  up  in  the 
interior,  and  Farnham's  friends  at  court  were  glad  to  get  him  out  of 
such  a  mire  as  that.  Ever  since  June,  therefore,  Close  had  been  alone 
with  the  men  and  they  with  him,  and  no  one  in  authority  had  the  faint 
est  idea  how  things  were  going.  Inspectors  were  almost  unknown  in 
those  days,  and  so  long  as  reports  and  returns  were  regularly  received 
at  head-quarters,  and  no  complaints  came  in  from  the  civil  authorities 
of  negligence  or  indifference  on  part  of  their  military  backers,  all  went 
smoothly.  Now,  there  had  been  not  a  few  instances  where  civil  and 
military  officials  had  clashed,  but  "  Captain  Close  and  his  splendid  com- 


28  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

pany"  had  been  the  theme  of  more  than  one  laudatory  report  from  the 
marshal  on  the  score  of  what  he  heard  from  his  deputies.  The  general 
commanding,  indeed,  had  been  much  elated  by  high  commendation 
from  the  highest  power  in  Washington,  all  due  to  services  rendered  in 
running  down  Ku  Klux  and  breaking  up  moonshiners  by  Captain 
Close  of  Company  "  G,"  — th  Infantry.  "  It's  just  exactly  what  the 
old  duffer's  cut  out  for,"  said  the  adjutant-general  of  the  department; 
"  but  I'm  sorry  to  have  to  see  young  Lambert  sent  into  such  exile." 

He  could  hardly  have  been  sorrier  than  Lambert  was  himself  as  that 
young  officer  went  briskly  up  the  desolate  road  along  the  "  branch."  He 
had  never  seen  a  landscape  so  dismal  in  all  his  life.  How  on  earth  was 
he  to  employ  his  time?  No  drills,  no  roll-calls,  no  duties  except  the 
sending  forth  of  detachments  at  the  call  of  this  fellow  Parmelee;  no 
books  except  the  few  in  his  trunk  ;  no  companions  except  this  heavy, 
illiterate,  money-grubbing  lout  who  did  not  know  enough  to  offer  him 
a  seat  or  a  cup  of  coffee  after  his  long  night  ride ;  not  a  soul  worth 
knowing  nearer  than  Quitman — and  only  the  inebriate  Potts  there ! 
Certainly,  Mr.  Newton  Lambert  felt  at  odds  with  fate  this  sunny  De 
cember  afternoon.  He  had  tried  to  persuade  himself  that  the  laugh 
able  stories  about  Close  were  grossly  exaggerated ;  but,  now  that  he 
had  met  that  officer,  the  indications  were  in  favor  of  their  entire  truth. 

It  seems  that  Close  had  been  on  some  detached  service  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  had  only  joined  his  regiment 
late  in  the  autumn  of  the  memorable  yellow-fever  year,  when,  had  he 
so  desired,  he  could  have  remained  away.  His  appearance  at  the 
stricken  garrison  when  the  death-rate  averaged  twenty  a  day,  when  the 
post  was  commanded  by  a  lieutenant  and  some  of  the  companies  by 
corporals, — everybody  else  being  either  dead,  down,  or  convalescent, — 
added  to  the  halo  which  hung  about  his  hitherto  invisible  head.  There 
was  no  question  as  to  his  consummate  bravery.  Grant  himself  had 
stopped  in  rear  of  his  regiment  and  asked  his  name  after  its  dash  on 
the  works  at  Donelson,  and  the  unknown  private  was  decorated  with 
sergeant's  chevrons  on  the  spot.  Before  he  had  opportunity  to  learn 
much  of  his  new  duties,  "the  Johnnies  jumped  the  picket"  one  night 
and  stampeded  everybody  but  Close,  who  was  given  up  for  lost  until 
he  came  in  two  days  later  full  of  buckshot  and  information.  His 
colonel  acted  on  the  latter  while  the  doctors  were  digging  out  the  former, 
and  Close  got  a  commission  as  first  lieutenant  in  a  new  regiment  for 
his  share  of  the  resultant  benefits.  One  bloody  afternoon  as  they  were 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  29 

scrambling  back,  unsuccessful,  and  under  an  awful  fire,  from  the  works 
at  Vicksburg,  the  colonel  was  left  writhing  on  the  lead-swept  glacis 
with  no  shelter  but  the  dead  and  dying  around  him,  and  Close  headed 
the  squad  that  rushed  out  and  fetched  him  in.  Everybody  at  McPher- 
son's  side  could  see  that  the  Rebs  were  firing  high,  when  once  the 
daring  survivors  of  the  six  who  started  reached  their  prostrate  colonel, 
but  the  bullets  sounded  just  as  deadly  to  the  four  who  got  back  alive, 
and  McPherson  sent  for  Close  and  wrung  his  hard  brown  hand  and 
looked  admiringly  into  the  sombre,  impassive  face  with  its  deep-brown, 
almost  dog-like,  eyes.  Some  of  the  Thirteenth  regulars  were  the  next 
to  report  on  Close,  and  these  fellows,  being  at  Sherman's  head-quarters, 
had  influence.  In  the  midst  of  so  rough  a  campaign  Close  looked  but 
little  worse  for  wear  than  did  his  associates,  and  when  he  brought  in 
ten  prisoners  with  only  two  men  at  his  back,  turned  them  over  to  the 
Thirteenth,  and  went  in  for  more  before  anybody  could  thank  him, 
"  Uncle  Billy"  swore  that  man  was  one  of  the  right  sort,  and  asked 
him  what  he  could  do  for  him  that  very  night.  And  then — so  the 
story  ran — Close  said  he  guessed  he'd  like  to  be  either  a  sutler  or  a 
quartermaster, — he  didn't  know  which, — and  for  once  in  his  life  the 
popular  general  looked  bewildered. 

After  Mission  Ridge,  where  he  got  another  bullet  through  him,  and 
one  that  would  have  killed  an  ox,  they  simply  had  to  put  Close  on 
quartermaster  duty,  he  wanted  it  so  much  and  had  done  such  splendid 
fighting  and  so  little  talking  for  it.  That  was  the  end  of  him  until 
near  the  end  of  the  war.  His  train  was  captured  by  a  dash  of  Forrest's 
cavalry,  and,  though  most  of  the  guards  got  away,  Close  went  with  his 
wagons.  Andersonville  was  then  his  abiding-place  for  a  time,  but  in 
some  way  he  turned  up  again  during  the  march  to  the  sea,  which  he 
made  on  mule-back,  and  when  Congress  authorized  the  organization  of 
sixteen  regiments  of  infantry  as  a  part  of  the  regular  army  in  '66,  the 
great  generals  at  the  head  of  military  aifairs  were  reminded  of  Close. 
He  wrote  from  somewhere  far  out  West  saying  modestly  that  they  had 
told  him  to  let  them  know  if  they  could  ever  be  of  any  use  to  him, 
and  the  time  had  come.  He  had  concluded  to  continue  soldiering,  and 
wanted  to  be  a  quartermaster.  He  was  offered  a  first-lieutenantcy  in 
the  infantry,  and  accepted,  though  the  examining  board  shook  their 
heads  over  his  ill-written  papers  ;  was  applied  for  by  the  colonel  whose 
life  he  had  saved  at  Vicksburg,  and  who  was  now  on  "  bureau  duty" 
in  the  South ;  and  on  that  work  Close  remained,  despite  some  rumors 

3* 


30  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

of  his  unfit-ness,  until  the  fever  cut  its  wide  swath  in  his  regiment. 
The  adjutant  and  quartermaster  were  both  down  when  Close  arrived 
and  reported  for  duty.  In  his  calm,  stolid,  impassive  way,  he  proved 
vastly  useful.  Indeed,  at  a  time  when  men  were  dying  or  deserting  by 
scores,  when  even  sentry-duty  had  to  be  abandoned,  and  when  govern 
ment  property  was  being  loaded  up  and  carried  away  and  sold  in  the 
city,  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  losses  might  not  have  been  sustained  but 
for  his  tireless  vigilance.  He  exposed  himself  fearlessly  among  the 
dying.  He  said  he  had  had  a  light  attack  of  the  fever  at  New  Iberia 
earlier  in  the  season,  and  couldn't  take  it  again.  At  all  events,  he  did 
not.  He  was  probably  the  only  officer  who  remained  longer  than  a 
week  at  the  stricken  post  and  escaped. 

At  last  came  the  welcome  frost,  Yellow  Jack's  conqueror,  followed 
by  new  officers  and  recruits  in  plenty,  and  Close's  occupation  was  gone. 
He  had  helped  to  bury  the  adjutant,  but  the  quartermaster  proved 
tough,  and — to  Close's  keen  disappointment,  as  the  boys  began  to  say 
with  returning  health,  appetite,  and  cynicism — recovered  from  his  des 
perate  illness  and  resumed  his  duties.  When  December  and  the  new 
colonel  came,  drills  and  dress  uniforms  were  ordered,  and  Close  got 
leave  of  absence  and  tried  to  get  back  to  bureau  duty,  where  they  did 
not  want  him.  Then  he  appealed  to  Farnham,  and  through  him  to 
General  Sherman.  His  wounds  made  him  stiff  and  sore:  he  couldn't 
drill  or  parade.  It  transpired  that  he  had  no  full  uniform,  and  his 
first  and  only  frock-coat  had  been  let  out  to  the  last  shred  and  was  still 
too  tight  for  him.  Then  some  queer  yarns  began  to  be  told.  He  was  a 
quasi  executor  for  three  officers  who  had  died  intestate,  and  who  had 
little  to  bequeath  anyhow.  He  had  nursed  them  in  their  last  illness, 
and  such  items  of  their  property  as  had  not  by  medical  orders  been 
condemned  and  burned  he  had  for  sale.  Under  the  regulations  the 
major  was  the  proper  custodian  of  the  effects  of  deceased  officers,  but 
the  major  was  himself  almost  a  victim  and  had  been  sent  North  to 
recuperate  after  a  long  and  desperate  struggle.  On  an  occasion  when 
he  simply  had  to  appear  in  full  uniform,  Close  turned  out  in  plumed 
felt  hat,  sash,  and  epaulets  which,  when  questioned,  he  said  were  the 
late  Captain  Stone's,  and  so  was  the  coat.  If  nobody  could  be  found 
to  buy  them,  he  would,  but  he  did  not  mean  to  buy  "such  truck"  until 
it  was  absolutely  necessary. 

Respect  for  his  fighting  ability  in  the  field  and  his  fearless  service 
during  the  epidemic  prevented  any  "crowding"  of  the  old  fellow, 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  31 

though  there  was  no  little  talk  about  the  habits  he  was  disclosing.  The 
bachelors  and  "  grass  widowers"  of  the  infantry  and  battery  started  a 
mess,  but  Close  declined  to  join.  He  explained  that  he  preferred  to 
board  with  a  French  Creole  family  a  short  distance  away,  as  he  "  wished 
to  learn  the  language."  They  gave  a  big  dance  Christmas  week  and 
taxed  every  officer  ten  dollars.  Close  had  nursed  Pierce  through  the 
fever,  and  Pierce  was  treasurer  of  the  fund.  Close  was  accounted  for 
as  "paid,"  both  for  the  original  ten  and  the  subsequent  assessment  of 
five  dollars  that  was  found  necessary,  but  it  came  out  of  Pierce's 
pocket,  for  Close  begged  off  one  and  refused  the  other,  and  Pierce 
would  not  tell  until  it  was  dragged  out  of  him  by  direct  questioning 
months  after.  It  transpired  that  Close  went  only  once  a  day  to  the 
humble  dwelling,  four  blocks  away,  where  he  preferred  to  board.  He 
assiduously  visited  the  kitchen  of  Company  "  G"  at  breakfast-  and 
dinner-time  to  see  that  those  meals  were  properly  cooked  and  served, 
and  there  could  be  no  question  that  he  personally  "  sampled"  every 
thing  they  had.  He  wore  the  clothing  issued  to  the  men,  until  the 
colonel  insisted  on  his  appearing  in  proper  uniform,  and  then  had  to 
rebuko  him  for  the  condition  of  the  paper  collar  and  frayed  black  bow 
that  were  attached  to  the  neck-band  of  his  flannel  shirt.  He  wore  the 
soldier  shoe,  and  swore  that  no  other  kind  suited  his  foot.  He  had  to 
write  letters  occasionally,  but  when  he  did  so  he  repaired  to  the  com 
pany  office  or  that  of  the  post  quartermaster,  and  not  one  cent  did  he 
spend  for  stamps. 

Indeed,  it  became  a  subject  of  unofficial  investigation  whether  he 
spent  a  cent  for  anything.  He  bought  nothing  at  Finkbein's,  the  sut 
ler's,  where  indeed  he  was  held  in  high  disfavor,  his  war  record  and 
fever  service  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  He  never  touched  a 
card,  never  played  billiards,  and  never  invited  anybody  to  drink,  even 
when  his  brother  officers  called  upon  him  in  squads  of  two  or  three  to 
see  if  he  would.  That  he  had  no  prejudice  against  the  practice,  then 
as  universal  in  the  service  as  it  is  now  rare,  was  apparent  from  the  fact 
that  he  never  refused  to  take  a  drink  when  invited,  yet  never  seemed 
even  faintly  exhilarated.  "  You  might  as  well  pour  whiskey  in  a  knot 
hole,"  said  the  sore-headed  squad  of  youngsters  that  with  malice  pre 
pense  had  spent  many  hours  and  dollars  one  night  in  the  attempt  to 
get  old  Close  "  loaded." 

He  had  to  go  to  town  occasionally  on  board  of  survey  or  similar 
duty,  and  always  sought  a  seat  in  somebody's  ambulance  to  save  the 


32  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

nickel  charged  for  a  six-mile  ride  in  the  tram-car.  When  he  had  to 
take  the  car  he  would  wait  for  some  of  the  youngsters,  well  knowing 
they  would  pay  his  fare.  Once  when  three  of  them  "  put  up  a  job  on 
him"  by  the  declaration,  after  they  were  well  on  their  way,  that  not  a 
man  in  the  party  had  less  than  a  five-dollar  bill,  he  offered  to  change 
the  five,  but  refused  to  lend  a  nickel  unless  they  gave  their  word,  on 
honor,  that  they  were  not  striving  to  make  a  convenience  of  him. 

But  the  "  closest"  figuring  he  had  ever  done  was  that  which  he 
carried  out  for  several  months  at  the  expense  of  a  certain  bank.  Most 
of  the  officers  on  getting  their  pay  check  towards  the  end  of  the  month 
would  take  it  to  the  nearest  bank  or  broker  and  get  it  cashed.  Those 
were  easy-going  days  in  the  pay  department.  Many  a  time  the  impecu 
nious  subs  would  prevail  on  the  major  or  his  clerk  to  let  them  have 
their  stipend  a  week  before  it  became  due,  and  it  would  be  spent 
before  it  was  fully  earned.  Close  never  spent  a  cent,  that  any  one  could 
see  or  hear  of,  but  he  was  on  hand  to  draw  it  as  early  as  any  of  the 
rest.  He  would  take  his  check  and  vanish.  The  total  footing  up  of 
his  pay,  rations,  servant's  allowance,  "  fogy,"  and  all,  was  one  hundred 
and  some  dollars  and  sixty-eight  cents.  They  used  no  coin  smaller 
than  the  "  nickel"  (five  cents)  in  the  South  in  those  days,  and  it  was 
the  practice  of  the  banks  and  money-changers  generally  to  give  the 
customer  the  benefit  if  the  check  called  for  more  than  half  the  value  of 
the  nickel,  otherwise  to  hold  it  themselves.  If  the  amount  were  fifty- 
two  cents  the  customer  got  only  fifty ;  if  it  were  fifty-three  cents  he 
was  paid  fifty-five.  Those  officers  who  kept  a  bank  account,  and  there 
were  three  or  four,  perhaps,  who  did  so,  simply  deposited  their  check  for 
its  face  value  and  had  done  with  it.  It  was  supposed  that  such  was 
Close's  custom  ;  but  he  was  wiser  in  his  generation,  as  was  learned  later. 
Close  took  his  check  to  the  paying  teller  and  got  one  hundred  and  some 
dollars  and  seventy  cents.  Then  he  deposited  this  cash  with  the  clerk 
at  the  receiving  window  and  was  two  cents  ahead  by  the  transaction. 
When  it  was  finally  discovered  and  he  was  politely  told  that  hereafter 
he  would  be  credited  only  with  the  sum  called  for  on  the  face  of  his 
check,  Close  got  it  cashed  elsewhere  and  deposited  his  seventy  cents 
regularly  as  before.  "  But  what  he  does  it  for  is  a  mystery,"  said  the 
bank  official  who  let  this  sizable  cat  out  of  the  bag,  "  for  he  never  has 
more  than  a  few  dollars  on  deposit  more  than  a  week.  He  checks  it 
out  through  some  concerns  up  North." 

No  wonder  the  fellows  wondered  what  Close  did  with  his  money. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  33 

A  soldier  servant  made  up  his  room  and  blacked  his  boots  ;  a  company 
laundress  washed  the  very  few  items  sent  to  her  each  week,  and  de 
clared  that  the  captain  stopped  the  price  of  two  pairs  of  gloves  out  of 
her  wages  because  she  wore  the  thumb  off  one  of  them  scrubbing  the 
dirt  off  the  other.  He  never  went  to  theatre,  opera,  or  other  diver 
sion  ;  never  took  part  in  any  of  the  gayeties  of  the  garrison ;  never 
subscribed  for  a  newspaper  or  magazine,  but  was  always  on  hand  to 
get  first  look  at  those  service  journals  which  were  intended  for  the  post 
library.  He  smoked  an  old  black  brier-root  pipe,  which  he  charged 
with  commissary  plug  tobacco,  preferring  it  to  all  others.  He  chewed 
tobacco — navy  plug — and  did  not  care  who  knew  it.  He  shaved  him 
self,  and  when  his  hair  needed  trimming  it  was  done  by  the  company 
barber.  He  had  no  bills.  He  would  be  neither  borrower  nor — well, 
there  was  some  talk  about  his  lending  money  on  unimpeachable  se 
curity  and  usurious  interest,  but  to  those  officers  who  applied,  either 
in  jest  or  earnest,  he  said  he  never  had  a  cent  to  lend  and  wouldn't 
lend  it  if  he  had. 

Then  what  on  earth  did  Close  do  with  his  money? 

Much  of  this  was  told  to  Lambert  in  New  Orleans.  More  of  it  he 
learned  later.  On  this  particular  day  he  was  destined  to  have  another 
peep  into  the  peculiarities  of  this  most  unusual  character. 

He  had  walked  perhaps  half  a  mile,  revolving  these  matters  in  his 
mind  and  keeping  occasional  lookout  for  Parmelee's  (which  was  evi 
dently  farther  away  than  he  had  been  led  to  suppose),  when  he  heard 
some  one  shouting  after  him.  It  was  a  soldier,  running  hard,  and  in  a 
moment  Lambert  recognized  in  him  the  affable  corporal  who  was  the 
first  to  receive  him  that  morning.  This  time  the  corporal  saluted  as  he 
came,  panting,  to  a  halt.  Possibly  Sergeant  Burns  had  been  giving 
the  company  a  "  pointer." 

"Did  anybody  pass  you,  lieutenant? — anybody  on  horseback?" 

"  No,"  answered  Lambert,  wondering  what  might  now  be  coming. 

"  Well,  cap  says — er  rather — the  captain  wants  you  to  come  back. 
Didn't  nobody  go  along  here  a-horseback  ?"  And  the  corporal  was  evi 
dently  perplexed  as  well  as  nearly  breathless.  "  By  gad,  I  thought 
'twas  takin'  chances,  even  for  the  two  of  us.  Two  of  'em  rode  in  an' 
sassed  cap  right  to  his  face  an'  were  off  before  a  man  of  us  could  draw 
bead  on  'em." 

"  Who  are  they  ?" 

"  Some  o'  the  very  crowd  Parmelee  nabbed  last  night.  They  must 
B* 


34  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

have  cut  across  at  the  ford.  They've  finished  him,  I  reckon,  for  one  of 
'em  was  ridin'  his  horse." 

In  ten  minutes  Lambert  was  back  at  camp,  where  all  was  bustle 
and  suppressed  excitement.  Close  was  seated  at  his  tent,  smoking 
imperturbably,  and  listening  to  the  tremulous  words  of  a  tall,  sallow 
civilian  who  was  leaning  against  the  shoulder  of  a  panting  mule. 
McBride,  rifle  in  hand  and  equipped  for  field  service,  was  closely 
inspecting  the  kit  and  cartridge-boxes  of  a  squad  of  a  dozen  men 
already  formed. 

"  Lieutenant,"  said  Close,  "  I've  got  to  send  you  with  a  detach 
ment  over  to  the  county  jail.  How  soon  can  you  get  read"9" 

Lambert  felt  a  sudden  odd,  choky  sensation  at  the  throat,  ana  was 
conscious  that  his  knees  were  tremulous.  It  was  his  first  call,  mind 
you,  and  it  was  sudden  and  vague.  The  symptoms  made  him  furious. 

"  I'm  ready  now,"  he  said,  reaching  for  his  handsome  sash  and  belt, 
and  disappearing  an  instant  within  his  tent  door. 

"  Ain't  you  got  some  ord'nery  things  ?  You  don't  want  to  wear 
such  trappin's  as  them.  I've  got  a  sash  an'  belt  an'  sword  here  plenty 
good  enough  ;  and  you  can  have  'em  for  half  what  they  cost." 

"  I  prefer  using  these,  captain,"  said  Lambert. 

"  Why,  you  may  not  get  back  in  a  week,"  persisted  Close.  "  There's 
no  tellin'  where  those  fellows  have  run  to.  You  ought  to  have  some 
suitable  clothes  for  this  sort  o'  work — like  mine." 

"  I've  got  something  different,  but  I  thought  we  were  needed  at 
once." 

"So  you  be,  'cordin'  to  what  this  gentleman  says.  It  looks  like 
they  must  have  stirred  up  quite  a  row ;  but  you  needn't  worry. 
There'll  be  no  trouble  once  they  see  the  regulars,  and  if  there  should 
be,  you've  got  me  an'  the  hull  company  to  draw  on."  And  Close's 
face  fairly  brightened  up  for  the  minute.  "  There's  your  squad  ready. 
Parm'lee  '11  tell  you  what  he  wants  done.  Reck'lect,  if  there's  any 
trouble  you  draw  on  me." 

"  I  shall  need  some  money,  I'm  afraid,  if  we're  gone  any  time. 
That's  the  first  thing  I'll  have  to  draw  for." 

Close's  countenance  fell.  "  Ten  dollars  ought  to  be  'nuff  for  you 
anywhere  here.  I  could  get  along  with  fifty  cents,"  said  he,  slowly. 
Suddenly  he  brightened  up  again. 

"  Just  sit  down  an'  make  out  them  mileage  accounts  o'  yours. 
— Here,  sergeant,  you  and  this  gentleman  go  on  with  the  squad.  Take 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  35 

the  county  road.  The  lieutenant  '11  overtake  you. — Sit  right  down 
over  there  in  Sergeant  Burns's  tent,  lieutenant :  he's  got  all  the  blanks 
and  things.  Never  made  out  a  mileage  account?  Here,  I'll  show  you." 

And  while  Close  slowly  began  his  calculations,  the  squad  under 
Sergeant  McBride  tramped  out  upon  the  dusty  red  road,  most  of  the 
men  following  as  though  to  see  them  around  the  bend,  while  Lambert, 
vaguely  troubled,  and  feeling,  somehow,  that  he  ought  to  be  with  his 
detachment  even  though  his  superior  officer  called  him  back,  stood 
looking  anxiously  after  them. 

"  I  thought  you  had  twenty  or  so  left  in  your  wallet,  lieutenant," 
said  Close.  "  Just  look,  will  you?  You  needn't  be  in  any  hurry. 
McBride  knows  just  what  to  do.  I'd  change  them  clothes  if  I  was 
you." 

Lambert  had  slipped  his  hand  into  his  breast-pocket,  then  began 
searching  the  others.  All  in  vain  :  the  little,  flat  pocket-book  was 
gone ;  and  now  it  flashed  across  his  mind  that  he  must  have  whisked 
it  out  with  his  handkerchief,  which  he  carried,  after  the  West  Point 
fashion  of  those  days,  in  the  breast  of  his  coat,  just  after  he  started  on 
the  run  back  to  camp.  Even  as  he  began  to  t'ell  of  his  loss  the  men 
came  springing  down  the  bank  and  bursting  through  the  bushes  in 
their  haste  to  reach  their  arms  and  equipments. 

"What's  up  nowf  hailed  Close,  still  slowly  writing  and  never 
moving  from  his  seat. 

"Firing  over  near  town,  sir,"  called  a  sergeant. 

"  That  so  ?"  asked  the  veteran,  imperturbably.  "  Get  'em  under 
arms,  sergeant. — Guess  you'd  better  ketch  up  with  McBride,  lieuten 
ant,"  said  he  to  Lambert,  whose  boyish  face  could  not  but  betray  his 
excitement.  "  Hold  on  a  second,"  he  called,  for  Lambert  had  darted 
at  the  word.  "Wait,  lieutenant!"  shouted  Burns,  and,  wondering, 
Lambert  looked  back.  Close  was  holding  out  the  pen  to  him. 

"  Sign  these,  first  off,  will  you  ?"  said  he. 


V. 


Long  before  they  reached  the  public  square  the  firing  had  ceased. 
Overtaking  his  little  command,  which  the  sergeant  had  wisely  halted 
"  for  orders"  as  soon  as  the  shots  were  heard,  Lambert  led  them  at 
double  time. 


36  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"  Put  a  stop  to  anything  they're  at.  I'll  be  after  you  with  the  hull 
company,"  Close  had  shouted  after  him.  The  deputy  marshal  had 
disappeared. 

"  Mr.  Parmelee  somewhere  ahead  ?"  panted  the  lieutenant  to  the 
sergeant  trotting  by  his  side. 

"  Somewhere  behind,  sir.  He'll  come  gallopin'  in  after  we  get 
there, — perhaps." 

The  road  led  into  town  from  the  northeast.  Lambert  could  see 
the  railway  embankment  and  the  old  wooden  bridge  before  they 
rounded  the  turn  from  which  they  came  in  sight  of  the  belfry  and 
the  roofs.  Somebody  had  begun  to  ring  the  bell,  and  there  came  the 
sound  of  shouting,  with  an  occasional  shrill  yell.  Then  more  shots, 
a  short,  sputtering  fusillade,  and  more  shouts,  suggestively  derisive 
and  farther  away. 

"  What's  going  on,  do  you  suppose?"  asked  Lambert  of  his  bulky 
second  in  command  ;  and  McBride,  with  one  hand  steadying  the  absurd 
long-sword  then  worn  by  our  sergeants,  and  the  other  clamping  his 
rifle  at  the  right  shoulder,  puffingly  answered, — 

"  Havin'  some  fun  with  the  sheriff.  He  had  a  nigger  posse  guardin' 
the  jail.  Folks  wouldn't  stand  it." 

Another  minute  of  running  brought  them  to  the  outskirts  of  the 
straggling  town.  Women  and  children  could  be  seen  peering  excitedly 
towards  the  square.  Two  very  small  boys,  hearing  the  heavy  tramp, 
tramp  of  the  infantry,  turned  and  scuttled  away  for  the  shelter  of  an 
open  door.  Three  hundred  yards  ahead  a  man  in  his  shirt-sleeves 
popped  around  a  corner,  looked  keenly  at  the  coming  squad,  and  popped 
back  again.  When  Lambert,  leading  his  men  by  a  dozen  paces,  came 
dancing  around  that  same  corner  and  found  himself  at  the  northeast 
angle  of  the  plaza,  this  same  citizen  was  seated  on  the  nearest  porch, 
placidly  smoking  a  corn-cob  pipe  and  reading  a  newspaper,  his  boots 
braced  against  a  wooden  pillar  and  his  chair  tilted  back  against  the 
wall.  In  similar  attitudes  of  exaggerated  calm,  farther  along  in  the 
direction  of  the  post-office,  were  one  or  two  other  gentlemen  of  Tugaloo. 
Only  around  Cohen's  mercantile  emporium  was  there  faintest  sign  of 
excitement.  There  one  or  two  trembling,  pallid  clerks  were  bustling 
about  and  putting  up  the  shutters.  The  gang  of  negroes  ordinarily 
loafing  around  the  plaza  had  totally  vanished.  Lambert,  expecting 
to  find  himself  in  the  presence  of  a  surging  mob,  came  to  sudden  halt 
in  sheer  surprise.  The  squad  "  slowed  down"  at  a  sign  from  their 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  37 

sergeant,  and  then,  closing  up  their  rank,  marched  silently  ahead  in 
quick  time. 

"  Where's  the  jail?"  asked  Lambert  of  his  subordinate. 

"  Round  there  behind  the  next  corner,  sir, — where  the  bell  is." 

Three  or  four  prominent  citizens  came  strolling  out  of  the  saloon 
nearest  the  post-office,  their  hands  in  their  pockets  and  quids  of  ex 
aggerated  size  in  their  cheeks.  The  bell,  under  the  impulse  of  unseen 
hands,  was  still  violently  ringing :  otherwise  an  almost  Sabbath  still 
ness  pervaded  the  town  of  Tugaloo.  At  the  corner  lay  a  gaunt 
quadruped,  blood  trickling  from  its  nostrils  and  from  a  shot-hole 
in  the  side, — sole  indication  of  recent  battle.  The  jail  door  stood 
obligingly  open  to  the  declining  sun.  The  barred  windows  were 
tightly  closed. 

"  '  Put  a  stop  to  anything  they're  at,' "  repeated  Lambert  to  himself. 
"But  what  are  they  at?  How  on  earth  can  I  find  out?" 

Like  those  of  the  jail  behind  it,  the  windows  of  the  little  meeting 
house  were  closed,  and  apparently  boarded  up  from  within.  The 
double  doors  in  front  were  tight  shut  and  decorated  in  one  or  two 
places  with  bullet-holes.  The  bell  kept  up  its  furious  din.  "Hammer 
the  door  with  the  butt  of  your  rifle,"  said  the  lieutenant,  annoyed  to 
see  that  such  of  the  populace  as  began  to  appear  were  looking  on  in 
unmistakable  amusement. 

"Guess  they're  all  down  in  the  cellar,  lieutenant,"  said  a  tall  civilian. 
"  Want  any  of  'em  ?  Reckon  they'll  come  up  'f  you'll  tell  Squire 
Parmelee  to  shout.  Don't  seem  to  see  him,  though."  And  the  grin 
ning  countryman  was  presently  joined  by  one  or  two  of  his  friends. 
Lambert  simply  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  the  situation.  Sergeant 
McBride  was  going  around  hammering  at  one  shutter  after  another 
and  muttering  something  about  "dam  fools  inside."  A  corporal  with 
a  couple  of  men  had  explored  the  two  rooms  of  the  primitive  building 
used  as  a  jail,  and  now  came  out  to  say  there  was  nobody  there,  which 
seemed  to  tickle  the  fancy  of  the  rallying  populace.  Still  the  bell 
kept  up  its  deafening  clamor,  and  Lambert  was  waxing  both  nervous 
and  indignant.  The  absence  of  the  civil  officer  of  the  law — the 
deputy  marshal  or  sheriff — rendered  him  practically  powerless  to  act. 
He  could  not  pitch  into  the  people  for  standing  around  with  their 
hands  in  their  pockets  and  looking  amused.  There  was  nothing  hostile 
or  threatening  in  their  manner.  They  were  even  disposed  to  be 
friendly, — as,  when  they  saw  Lambert  take  a  rifle  with  evident  inten- 

4 


38  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

tion  of  battering  in  the  door,  they  shouted  to  him  in  genuine  concern, 
"  Don't  do  that,  lieutenant.  Those  fellows  will  be  shootin'  up  through 
the  floor  next.  The  squire'll  be  along  presently.  Let  him  do  it." 

Presently  the  squire  did  come,  still  "  white  about  the  gills,"  as  the 
sergeant  muttered ;  and  him  Lambert  angrily  accosted  : 

"  What  do  you  want  us  to  do,  Mr.  Parmelee  ?  We've  been  here 
several  minutes  now  with  nobody  to  report  to." 

"  I  s'pose  my  poor  fellows  are  murdered  to  a  man,"  cried  Parmelee, 
sliding  off  his  mule  and  handing  the  reins  to  a  soldier,  who  coolly 
transferred  them  to  the  nearest  post.  "  Can't  you  make  'em  hear, 
McBride?" 

"  Not  if  they're  all  dead,"  answered  the  sergeant,  disgustedly. 
".Which  corpse  is  pullin'  the  bell-rope?"  At  this  unfeeling  remark 
the  populace  again  began  to  laugh. 

"  Oh,  you'll  pay  for  this,  you  fellows  !"  tremblingly  shouted  Par 
melee  to  the  grinning  group  across  the  street.  "  If  there's  law  in 
Washington  and  power  to  back  it,  you'll  ketch  hell." 

"Whawt's  been  the  matter,  squire?"  asked  a  citizen,  soothingly. 
"  Ain't  anybody  hurt,  is  there  ?  I  ain't  heard  nothin'  of  any  row." 

Parmelee  pointed  to  the  carcass  of  the  mule  and  to  some  significant 
shot-holes  at  the  corner.  "  I  s'pose  you'll  deny  shootiu' — or  hearin' 
any  shootin' — next." 

"  Shootin'  ?  Shootin'  roun'  hyuh  ?  Why,  doggone  'f  that  ain't 
the  queerest  thing!  I  thought  I  heard  somebody  pullin'  off  a  pistol 
awhile  ago.  Don't  you  remember,  major  ? — I  reckon  'twas  you  I  was 
talkin'  with  at  the  time, — I  said  there  was  a  shot  fired.  P'r'aps  that's 
what  killed  Potts's  ole  mule  out  yuh." 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  man,"  muttered  Lambert,  "  stop  that  infernal 
bell  and  your  own  jaw.  Can't  you  see  they're  just  laughing  at  you?" 
And  Parmelee  evidently  did. 

"  My  God,  lieutenant !  they've  mobbed  the  jail,  let  loose  three 
of  the  worst  scoundrels  ever  went  unhung,  and  killed  the  officers  of 
the  law.  They  ought  to  be  arrested  right  here, — every  one  of  them, 
— 'stead  of  standin'  there  insultin'  the  United  States  government.  If 
Captain  Close  was  here  he'd  have  'em  in  in  less  than  a  minute." 

"  He'll  be  here  presently,  if  you  want  any  arresting  done.  Mean 
time,  the  only  row  is  that  which  your  people  seem  to  be  making. 
Can't  you  stop  that  ?" 

Parmelee  looked  helpless  and  despondent.     "  Somethin's  got  to  be 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  39 

done,"  he  said,  "  or  these  rebels'll  ride  right  over  you.  Why,  every 
man  you  see's  had  a  hand  in  this  jail  delivery.  We  had  great  trouble 
'restin'  those  three  scoundrels :  the  marshal's  been  after  'em  a  month, 
and  he  ought  to  have  met  us  here,  's  I  telegraphed  him.  We  fetched 
'em  here  at  four  o'clock  this  mornin',  an'  not  a  soul  in  Tugaloo  knew 
anything  about  it,  an'  the  soldiers  ought  to  have  stood  by  us  until  the 
marshal  carue.  'Stead  of  that,  they  went  on  to  camp  and  left  us  all 
alone,  and  just  as  soon  as  these  people  found  out  who  were  jailed  an' 
saw  we  had  no  soldiers  to  guard  'em,  why,  I  couldn't  do  nothin'.  They 
just  took  my  horse  and — they'd  have  hung  me,  I  s'pose,  if  I'd  been 
fool  enough  to  stay.  I  just  'scaped  with  my  life.  You've  just  got 
here,  lieutenant.  You  don't  begin  to  know  what  a  hell-hole  this  is. 
These  people  are  the  worst  kind  o'  rebs.  Capt'n  Close — even  he 
wouldn't  b'lieve  it,  but  I  reckon  he  does  now,  after  the  tongue-lashin' 
them  fellers  gave  him " 

But  Mr.  Par  melee's  description  of  the  situation  was  interrupted  by 
the  coming  of  Captain  Close  himself.  Dressed  precisely  as  when  Lam 
bert  had  last  seen  him  at  camp,  with  no  more  semblance  of  rank  or 
authority  than  was  to  be  found  in  a  weather-beaten  pair  of  shoulder- 
straps  on  his  cheap  flannel  blouse,  without  sash  or  sword,  but  with  a  huge 
army  "  Colt"  strapped  about  his  waist,  the  commander  of  the  company 
came  strolling  around  the  corner  of  the  jail,  looking  curiously  about  its 
door  and  windows  as  though  in  search  of  signs  of  the  recent  affray. 

"  Thought  you  told  me  they'd  shot  the  door  into  tooth-picks,"  said 
he.  "  I  don't  see  no  signs  of  bullets." 

"  Come  round  here  an'  you'll  see  'em.  /  wasn't  goin'  to  let  my 
men  be  shot  like  cattle  in  a  pen.  I  got  'em  out  o'  there  soon  's  we  saw 
the  crowd  a-comin'." 

"  Then  you  didn't  even  show  fight, — didn't  even  attempt  to  hold 
your  prisoners  ?"  exclaimed  Close,  in  high  dudgeon.  "  Why,  great 
Peter!  man,  your  birds  just  walked  out  without  any  one's  helpin'  'em. 
You  and  your  cowardly  gang  walked  off  and  let  'em  go;  an'  they've 
taken  our  mule.  That's  the  worst  of  it, — taken  our  mule  to  replace 
that  dam  carcass  there,  that  b'longed  to  the  father  of  one  of  the  boys 
you  brought  in  this  mornin'.  He  told  the  truth  'bout  it  then,  when  he 
rode  into  camp  an'  said  your  posse  had  shot  his  mule  an'  threatened 
to  shoot  him.  What  sort  of  a  sand-heap  were  you  raised  on,  anyhow? 
Why,  'f  a  baby  in  the  town  I  come  from  had  shown  as  little  grit  as 


40  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

you  and  your  folks  have,  its  own  mother  would  have  drowned  it  in  the 
mill-race." 

The  effect  of  this  unexpected  tirade  was  remarkable.  The  knot  of 
civilian  listeners,  who  had  come  to  get  such  fun  out  of  the  situation  as 
the  circumstances  would  permit,  and  who  had  been  indulging  in  no 
little  half-stifled  laughter,  were  evidently  amazed  at  this  new  side  to  the 
Yankee  officer's  character,  and  stood  silent  and  decidedly  appreciative 
listeners  to  his  denunciation  of  the  luckless  Parmelee.  The  soldiers, 
who  had  for  some  months  been  tasting  the  comforts  of  military  service 
under  civil  control,  and  trudging  all  over  Chittomingo  County,  day  in 
and  day  out,  on  the  mysterious  mission  of  "serving  process,"  were  evi 
dently  tickled  that  their  commander  should  at  last  have  seen  for  him 
self  what  they  had  more  than  half  suspected  all  along, — that  Parmelee 
was  an  arrant  coward,  who  had  held  his  position  and  made  his  record 
for  efficiency  in  enforcing  the  laws  only  when  a  big  squad  of  regulars 
was  at  his  back. 

As  for  Lambert,  whose  sole  knowledge  of  affairs  in  the  South  was 
derived  from  the  accounts  published  in  the  Northern  journals  and 
inspired  almost  without  exception  by  "  carpet-bag"  politicians,  and  who 
fully  expected  to  find  himself  pitted  against  a  determined  array  of  ex- 
Confederates  engaged  in  the  slaughter  of  Federal  officials,  white  and 
black,  the  young  New-Englander  began  to  look  upon  the  whole  affair 
as  another  practical  joke  devised  by  his  new  associates  simply  "  to  test 
his  grit  or  gullibility."  This,  at  least,  was  his  first  impression,  until 
the  sight  of  the  main  body  of  the  company  swinging  into  the  square 
under  command  of  the  first  sergeant,  and  another  look  at  Close's  burn 
ing  brown  eyes  and  Parmelee's  hangdog  face,  convinced  him  that  so 
far  as  they  were  concerned  there  was  no  joke. 

But  how  about  the  chuckling  natives  now  augmenting  their  number 
every  moment?  Certainly  there  could  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  contempt 
they  felt  for  "  the  Squire,"  as  they  facetiously  termed  Parmelee,  or  the 
ridicule  which  Close's  appearance  had  excited  until  he  had  well-nigh 
finished  his  denunciation  of  the  civil  officer.  Then  for  an  instant  there 
was  almost  a  ripple  of  applause.  They  watched  him  as,  in  his  uncouth, 
ill-fitting,  unsoldierly  garb,  the  commander  strode  angrily  back  and 
began  searching  the  walls  and  window-shutters  of  the  jail  for  sign  of 
bullet-marks. 

Meantime,  gradually  recovering  confidence  or  hope,  the  besieged  in 
the  cellar  of  the  meeting-house  began  to  parley.  The  bell  ceased  ring- 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  41 

ing,  and  humble  voices  were  heard  asking  who  were  outside.  A  brusque 
order  in  Close's  gruffest  tones  to  "  Come  up  out  of  that  hole  and  account 
for  your  prisoners,"  seemed  to  cause  unlimited  joy.  There  was  sound 
of  unbarring  doors  and  scrambling  on  wooden  stairs,  and  presently  the 
portals  opened  an  inch  or  two  and  cautious  peeps  were  taken.  The 
sight  of  the  blue  uniforms  was  enough.  The  defenders,  white  and 
colored,  to  the  number  of  six,  dusty  but  uninjured,  came  gladly  forth 
into  the  afternoon  sunshine.  "By  gad,  fellows,  we  had  hard  work 
standin'  off  that  crowd  till  you  come,"  began  the  foremost,  another  of 
the  Parmelee  type.  "  There  must  ha'  been  half  Chittomingo  County 
in  here,  and  the  bullets  flew  like " 

But  here  a  guffaw  of  derisive  laughter  from  across  the  street,  the 
crestfallen  face  of  Parmelee,  and  the  quizzical  grin  on  the  sun-tanned 
features  of  the  soldiers,  put  sudden  check  to  his  flow  of  words.  There 
stood  Close,  glowering  at  him. 

"Flew  like  what,  you  gibberin'  idiot?  The  only  bullet-hole  in 
the  hull  square  that  hasn't  been  here  for  six  weeks  is  the  one  in  that 
wuthless  mule  there.  You  dam  cowards  ran  for  shelter  an'  let  your 
pris'n^rs  loose :  that's  plain  as  the  nose  on  your  face.  I  don't  care  for 
the  pris'ners, — that's  your  bus'ness ;  but  what  I  want's  our  mule. — 
Lieutenant  Lambert,"  he  continued,  addressing  his  silent  junior,  "  I'm 
as  ready  as  any  man  to  fight  for  the  flag,  but  for  six  months  now  I've 
been  sittin'  here  furnishin'  posses  to  back  up  these  fellers  makin' 
arrests  all  over  the  country,  because  them  was  my  orders,  /haven't 
seen  a  nigger  abused,  /haven't  seen  the  uniform  insulted,  /haven't 
seen  a  sign  of  Ku-KIux  :  nothin'  but  some  contraband  stills.  I've 
obeyed  orders  an'  helped  'em  make  arrests  of  people  I  don't  personally 
know  nothin'  about,  an'  you  see  for  yourself  they  dasn't  lift  a  hand  to 
hold  'em.  I'm  tired  o'  backin'  up  such  a  gang  of  cowards,  an'  I 
don't  care  who  knows  it.  March  the  men  back  to  camp,  sir.  I'm 
goiii'  after  that  mule." 


VI. 

With  the  going  down  of  that  evening's  sun  Lieutenant  Newton 
Lambert  had  finished  his  first  day  of  company  duty  in  the  sunny 
South,  and  found  himself  commanding  the  temporary  post  of  Tugaloo. 
The  responsibility  now  devolving  upon  him  was  the  only  thing  that 
enabled  him  to  resist  an  almost  overwhelming  sensation  of  depression 

4* 


42  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

and  disgust.  Marching  at  route  step  back  to  camp,  he  had  held  brief 
and  low-toned  conference  with  Sergeant  Burns  and  learned  something 
of  the  circumstances  that  led  up  to  the  events  of  the  day.  "  Old  man 
Potts,"  said  the  sergeant,  was  a  character.  He  owned  a  place  half-way 
over  towards  Quitman  and  so  near  the  county  line  that  nobody  knew 
whether  he  rightfully  belonged  to  Quitman  or  to  Chittomingo.  When 
he  was  "  wanted"  in  one  he  dodged  to  the  other.  Two  of  his  sons  had 
been  killed  during  the  war,  and  the  two  younger  were  prominent  both 
as  citizens  and  " skylarkers,"  for  "there  was  no  mischief  or  frolic 
going  on  they  weren't  mixed  up  in."  Sergeant  Burns  didn't  believe  in 
Ku-Klux  thereabouts,  but  the  colored  folks  and  the  deputy  marshals 
did,  and  so  the  soldiers  were  kept  "  on  the  jump."  Old  man  Potts 
had  "  cussed"  Parmelee  off  his  place  two  weeks  previous,  but  had 
ridden  in  to  Quitman  and  reported  himself  to  Brevet  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Sweet,  commanding  the  two-company  garrison  there,  and  said 
that  any  time  he  or  his  boys  were  "  wanted,"  just  to  say  so  and  he 
would  come  in  and  account  for  himself  and  them  to  an  officer  and  a 
gentleman,  but  he'd  be  damned  if  he'd  allow  that  sneak  Parmelee  on 
his  premises.  Then  he  had  had  high  words  with  the  marshal  of  the 
district  himself.  His  boys  had  harmed  no  one,  he  said.  They  were 
full  of  fun,  and  perhaps  of  fight — he  wouldn't  own  'em  if  they  weren't : 
but  they  did  not  belong  to  the  Ku-Klux, — if  there  were  anything  of 
the  sort  around  there  at  all, — and  they  only  fought  when  interfered 
with.  They  might  have  expressed  contempt  for  Parmelee,  but  that 
wasn't  law-breaking.  The  marshal  told  him  that  very  serious  allega 
tions  had  been  laid  against  both  him  and  his  boys,  as  well  as  against 
friends  with  whom  they  forgathered,  and  warned  him  that  arrest  would 
follow  if  more  "  outrages"  occurred ;  and  the  result  was  that  only  the 
interference  of  Colonel  Sweet  prevented  a  shooting  scrape  on  the  spot. 
Ever  since  then  Parmelee  had  had  some  one  watching  the  movements 
of  Potts  and  his  boys.  There  was  a  young  lady  over  at  Clayton's 
plantation  to  whom  one  of  the  boys  was  devoted,  and  Parmelee's  spies 
reported  there  was  to  be  a  dance  there.  That's  how  he  came  to  go 
over  to  Buccatubbee  with  the  squad,  but  they  only  got  Harry  Potts 
and  two  of  the  Scroggs  boys ;  Barton  Potts  wasn't  there.  They  were 
riding  home  to  Quitman  County  after  the  dance  and  "  making  some 
racket,  as  young  fellers  will,  and  Parmelee  laid  for  'em  on  the  road." 
They  were  brought  in  to  the  jail  by  Sergeant  Quinn  and  the  squad  and 
there  left  to  Parmelee  and  his  people.  As  for  the  rest,  the  lieutenant 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  43 

knew  as  much  as  the  sergeant,  except  that  "  old  man  Potts"  with  his 
boy  Hal  suddenly  rode  into  camp  just  after  Mr.  Lambert  had  walked 
away,  and  the  old  man  had  given  Captain  Close  a  piece  of  his  mind, 
after  which  he  and  Hal  with  a  couple  of  friends  rode  back  townwards. 
All  the  shooting  that  took  place  was  probably  a  feu  de  joie  to  the 
accompaniment  of  triumphant  yells. 

It  was  a  fact  that  when  old  Potts  with  his  friends,  not  more  than 
half  a  dozen  all  told,  came  riding  in  to  offer  bail  for  the  boys,  armed 
only  with  the  customary  revolver,  they  were  followed  towards  the  jail 
by  a  party  of  inquisitive  and  interested  townspeople,  at  sight  of  which 
array  Parmelee's  posse  on  duty  at  the  jail  had  fired  one  volley  from 
that  building  and  then  rushed  for  the  shelter  of  the  cellar  under  the 
meeting-house.  They  had  killed  Potts's  mule  and  wounded  another, 
in  exchange  for  which  the  Pottsites  had  ridden  off  with  the  first  two 
animals  and  all  the  prisoners  they  saw.  There  was  no  one  to  claim 
the  latter,  and  old  Potts  had  coolly  offered  the  former  to  the  inspection 
of  Captain  Close :  one  proved  to  be  government  property,  the  other 
Parmelee's.  "I'll  just  bawrow  these  two  to  take  us  back  home,  an' 
then  you  gentlemen  can  have  'em  as  soon  as  you'll  send  for  'em ;  but 
you'll  hardly  expect  us  to  call  again,  after  the  reception  accawded  us 
law-abiding  and  peaceable  citizens  to-day."  This  was  the  majestic 
conclusion  of  Potts's  remarks  to  the  surprised  but  stolid  captain. 
Then  they  rode  away,  and,  crossing  probably  at  the  ford,  made  a 
circuit  back  through  town,  where  they  doubtless  had  a  Tugaloo  jubilee 
with  their  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  to  the  continued  alarm  and 
dismay  of  the  bell-ringers  in  the  meeting-house,  until  warned  that  the 
troops  were  coming,  when  they  deliberately  withdrew  across  the  rail 
way  track,  firing  off  a  parting  salute  and  a  volley  of  the»characteristic 
Southern  vocalisms  known  to  fame  as  the  u  rebel  yell."  This  was 
injudicious.  It  was  all  well  enough  to  ride  away  in  company  with 
prisoners  whom  nobody  claimed  or  appeared  to  care  to  hold,  but  they 
should  not  have  rejoiced  thereat  with  riot  and  ungodly  glee.  It  was 
human  and  by  no  means  divine.  It  gave  the  opposition  too  much  to 
tell  about  in  the  startling  reports  that  went  broadcast  over  the  North 
that  very  night  and  appeared  with  lurid  head-lines  in  the  morning 
papers  on  the  morrow. 

Parmelee  had  not  been  seen  from  the  moment  of  the  initial  appear 
ance  of  Potts  and  party  until  he  came  scrambling  into  camp  on  a 
borrowed  mule.  Later  that  afternoon,  when  matters  had  measurably 


44  CAPTAIN  CLOSE 

quieted  down,  he  made  his  way  westward  in  time  to  tell  at  the  State 
Capitol  his  story  of  the  riot  to  his  properly  indignant  chief,  while,  all 
alone,  Captain  Close  was  jogging  over  to  Potts's  on  the  "  day  accommo 
dation,"  little  dreaming  of  the  ill  repute  in  which  he  and  his  youthful 
subaltern  would  stand  before  the  unthinking  of  their  Northern  fellow- 
citizens  on  the  morrow ;  for,  as  was  only  natural,  the  deputy  marshal 
had  squared  accounts  with  Close  by  laying  the  blame  for  the  escape  of 
the  prisoners,  the  peril  of  the  beleaguered  posse,  and  the  riot  and  in 
surrection  in  Chittomingo  County  upon  the  captain  and  his  lieutenant, 
who,  he  said,  though  wearing  the  uniform  and  holding  the  commission 
of  the  United  States,  had  refused  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  officers  of 
the  law. 

"  I  ought  to  be  back  by  nine  o'clock,"  was  the  message  the  captain 
told  Corporal  Cunningham  to  take  out  to  camp;  but  Cunningham  was 
the  ingenuous  youth  who  first  accosted  Mr.  Lambert  on  his  arrival 
that  morning,  and  Burns  had  nearly  shaken  the  life  out  of  him  when 
he  heard  the  story  the  men  were  passing  from  lip  to  lip.  Cunningham 
was  a  young  fellow  with  a  better  opinion  of  himself  than  his  employers 
seemed  to  entertain,  and,  though  fairly  educated  in  the  public  schools 
and  in  a  business  college  of  his  native  city,  a  fondness  for  Bowery  life 
and  association  with  Bowery  boys  had  undermined  his  usefulness.  He 
enlisted  after  losing  his  situation,  and,  coming  to  Close's  company  when 
clerks  were  hardly  to  be  had  at  any  price,  was  put  into  the  company 
office  instead  of  the  awkward  squad.  Then  came  a  vacancy  among 
the  corporals;  the  young  fellow,  being  a  new  broom,  had  swept  clean, 
and  was  so  helpful  about  the  books,  papers,  and  the  like  for  six  weeks 
that  Close  gave  him  the  empty  chevrons  and  gave  Burns  abundant 
cause  for  anwther  outbreak  of  blasphemy.  There  might  have  been 
some  way  of  licking  Private  Cunningham  into  shape,  but  there  was 
none  whatever  of  reforming  Corporal  Cunningham.  He  was  not  all 
bad,  however,  for  by  evening  he  began  to  realize  the  extraordinary 
solecism  of  which  he  had  been  guilty  in  the  morning ;  so  he  was  act 
ually  ashamed  to  go  near  the  lieutenant,  and  never  even  repeated  his 
message  to  Burns  until  nine  o'clock  had  come  and  the  captain  hadn't. 
Then  Burns  went  over  to  the  lieutenant's  tent,  where  that  youth  sat 
wrapped  in  his  overcoat,  trying  gloomily  and  with  stiffened  fingers  to 
write  some  letters  by  the  light  of  a  single  candle. 

"  I  suppose,  sir,  the  captain  meant  to  ride  the  mule  back  himself. 
He  could  have  got  to  Potts's  place  before  six  and  back  here  by  eight, 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  45 

easy.  'Tisn't  likely  they'd  ask  him  to  stay  to  supper.  I'm  only 
afraid  of  his  gettin'  into  a  row,  and  him  all  alone." 

"  I  wish  he  could  have  been  content  to  send  for  the  mule  instead 
of  going,"  said  Lambert.  "  Any  of  the  men  could  have  gone,  I 
suppose." 

"  Well,  sir,  the  trouble  is  that  he'd  have  had  to  send  the  men  on 
mule-back,  or  else  pay  their  fare  over  on  the  ears.  The  captain  has  a 
pass,  and  it  doesn't  cost  him  anything ;  and  he's  afraid  to  let  the  mule 
be  gone  over-night.  It's  mighty  easy  losin'  'em  among  all  these  nig 
gers,  and  they  might  charge  it  up  against  the  captain's  pay.  The 
captain  has  stuck  close  to  camp  so  far  as  these  night  posses  have  been 
concerned,  but  he'd  hunt  the  whole  State  for  a  lost  blanket  or  bayonet. 
And  he  always  goes  alone — and  gets  what  he's  after,  and  he's  had  no 
trouble  worth  mentionin' ;  but  that  fellow  Potts  was  impudent  to  him 
to-day,  and  he  was  slow  'bout  seein'  it  at  first;  now,  though,  he's  got 
his  mad  up  and  gone  over  there  to  get  the  mule  and  satisfaction  both  : 
that's  what  I'm  afraid  of,  sir.  He  lashed  Parmelee  to-day  for  bein'  a 
coward,  and — beggin'  your  pardon,  lieutenant — though  the  captain 
ain't  much  on  military,  he  fires  up  like  a  flash  at  anything  like  insult 
to  the  flag." 

"Do  you  think  it  advisable  to  send  after  the  captain?"  asked 
Lambert,  after  a  moment's  reflection. 

"  There's  no  way  we  can  send,  sir,  'cept  afoot  or  behind  a  four- 
mule  team  in  an  army-wagon.  We  only  had  that  one  saddle-mule." 

Lambert  stepped  to  the  tent  door  and  looked  out.  The  sky  was 
overcast  and  the  darkness  thick.  A  wind  was  rising  and  whirling  the 
sparks  from  the  cook-fire  over  by  the  road,  and  from  the  pipes  of  the 
men  sitting  smoking  and  chatting  in  little  groups  about  camp.  Some 
had  come  to  him  at  nightfall  and  sought  permission  to  go  in  to  the 
village,  and  he  had  felt  obliged  to  refuse.  After  the  events  of  the 
day  it  seemed  wisest  to  hold  them  at  camp,  and  he  had  so  informed 
Sergeant  Burns.  As  he  stood  there  now  looking  uneasily  about,  first 
at  the  dark  and  threatening  sky,  then  at  the  darker  shadows  about 
camp,  Lambert  thought  he  caught  sight  of  three  or  four  forms,  vague 
and  indistinct,  hurrying  along  the  bank  beyond  the  fire. 

"  Who  are  those  men  ?"  he  asked. 

"  I  don't  know,  sir.  I  warned  the  company  to  remain  in  camp. 
I'll  see."  And  Burns  turned  quickly  and  made  a  run  for  the  opposite 
end  of  the  company  ground.  Some  of  the  men  started  up  and  stood 


46  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

gazing  expectantly  after  him,  and  the  chat  and  laughter  suddenly 
ceased.  The  shadowy  forms  had  disappeared :  so,  by  this  time,  had 
Burns.  Then  there  came  the  sound  of  his  powerful  voice,  out  by  the 
road : 

"  Halt  there,  you  men  !     Come  back  here !" 

Then  followed  a  rush  and  scramble  in  the  bushes,  and  the  sound 
of  footfalls,  rapid  and  light,  dying  away  in  the  darkness.  Then  some 
low  laughter  and  comment  among  the  men.  Then  Burns  came  back, 
and,  without  waiting  to  report,  sternly  ordered,  "  Fall  in !" 

Knocking  the  ashes  out  of  their  pipes  and  buttoning  their  over 
coats, — a  thing  they  might  have  overlooked  before  the  lesson  of  the 
day, — the  soldiers  slowly  obeyed  the  unusual  summons.  Burns  got 
his  lantern  and  quickly  called  the  roll.  Four  men  failed  to  respond. 
Leaving  the  company  still  in  line,  the  sergeant  hastened  to  the  tents 
for  the  absentees.  Two  of  the  number  were  found  placidly  sleeping. 
Two  were  away  entirely, — Privates  Riggs  and  Murphy. 

"If  I'm  not  mistaken  I  saw  three  shadows,"  said  Lambert,  as  the 
sergeant  made  his  report.  "  What  would  the  captain  do  if  he  were 
here  ? — send  a  patrol  ?" 

"  The  captain  never  had  a  night  roll-call,  sir ;  but  he  wouldn't  send 
a  patrol.  That's  only  a  good  way  of  not  ketch  in'  men,  unless  they're 
too  drunk  to  run.  It  wouldn't  be  of  much  consequence,  only  for  that 
man  Riggs  bein'  one  of  'era.  He's  a  troublesome  case.  If  the  lieu 
tenant  approves  of  it,  I'll  send  Sergeant  Watts  and  a  couple  of  good 
men  without  arms.  They  can  find  whoever's  out.  What  I  don't  like 
about  it  is  that  somebody  jumped  the  fence  and  into  the  Walton  place." 

"  The  old  homestead  across  the  road  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir.  There's  been  some  trouble  between  the  captain  and  the 
Walton  family.  He  ordered  the  men  never  to  enter  the  enclosure  on 
any  pretext,  the  old  lady  made  such  a  row  'bout  it." 

"Who  live  there?  Surely  they  ought  to  welcome  our  sending 
responsible  men  over  to  drive  off  our  renegades." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  'bout  that,  sir,"  said  the  sergeant,  with  a  ner 
vous  laugh.  "  If  there's  anybody  on  earth  the  captain's  afraid  of,  its 
old  Mrs.  Walton.  She's  a  terror.  Nothin'  of  the  unprotected  female 
about  her,  sir,  though  she  and  her  daughters  live  alone  there.  Both 
her  sons  were  shot  during  the  war :  one  was  killed,  and  the  other's  in 
Havana — or  Mexico  ;  said  he'd  never  surrender,  and  won't  come  home. 
I  reckon  they're  pretty  hard  up  there,  sometimes,  but  you  should  see 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  47 

how  the  old  lady  rides  it  over  the  captain,  sir.  I  wonder  she  hasn't 
been  over  to  pay  you  a  visit.  Shall  I  send  after  Riggs  and  Murphy, 
sir?  It's  a  little  like  sendin*  good  money  after  bad.  They  haven't  a 
cent,  either  of  'em,  and  if  town  was  their  object  there's  no  use  in  their 
goin' ;  nobody  would  trust  'em." 

Then  came  interruption, — the  sound  of  a  horn,  an  ordinary  tin 
horn,  too,  floating  through  the  dark  and  muttering  night. 

"  That's  her,  lieutenant.  That's  the  old  lady  herself.  She  reads 
prayers  reg'larly  at  half-past  nine  every  night,  and  some  of  the  niggers 
are  out  yet.  They  used  to  have  a  conch  shell  that  sounded  pretty,  but 
Parmelee  said  they  had  to  sell  it.  They've  had  to  sell  pretty  much 
everything,  tryin'  to  keep  alive." 

Again  the  sound  of  the  cheap  and  despised  tin.  Lambert  recalled 
it  as  a  necessary  concomitant  of  the  street-boy  and  straw-rides  about 
the  Christmas  holidays,  and  its  summons,  he  thought,  was  never  to 
prayer :  it  called  for  many  a  lively  malediction. 

"  Send  Sergeant  Watts,  if  you  think  it  advisable,"  said  he,  briefly. 
"  I'm  going  up  on  the  road  a  moment." 

Again  the  blast  of  the  horn,  short,  staccato,  imperative,  and  then 
an  impatient,  querulous  voice  at  the  north  end  of  the  porch, — a  voice 
calling,  "  You  Elinor  !  you  wuthless  black  gadabout !  \vh'  ah  you  ?" 

And  as  Lambert  scrambled  up  the  steep  path  and  reached  the  road, 
another  voice,  low,  tremulous,  eager,  close  at  hand,  whispered,  "  Oh,  I 
thought  you'd  never  come  !  Hyuh  !  quick  !  Leave  the  money,  shuah, 
and  the  pail,  t'maw'ow  night." 

And  then,  with  a  rustle  of  feminine  garments,  bending  low,  a  slen 
der,  girlish  form  shot  across  the  beam  of  lamplight  falling  from  an 
east  window.  Another  form,  also  feminine,  scurried  away  from  the 
hedge-row,  and  something  came  rolling  out  into  the  road-way,  clinking 
against  the  stones.  There  was  sound  of  voluble  reprimand  and  flus 
tered  explanation  at  the  north  end  of  the  building,  a  quick,  kitten-like 
patter  of  little  feet  up  the  rickety  old  steps  in  front,  and  in  an  instant 
the  girlish  form  seemed  perched  on  the  window-sill.  There  a  second  or 
two  it  hovered,  motionless,  until  a  door  slammed  around  at  the  north 
side  of  the  house.  Then  in  popped  the  slender  figure,  out  went  the 
light,  and,  but  for  the  sigh  and  complaint  of  the  night-wind  in  the 
rustling  branches  of  the  old  trees  about  the  veranda,  all  was  silence  at 
Walton  Hall. 


48  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 


VII. 

It  was  after  ten  when  Captain  Close  returned,  and  barely  eleven 
when  he  again  set  forth.  This  time  a  sergeant  and  ten  picked  men 
went  with  him,  nobody  but  Close  knew  whither.  "  I  may  be  gone  two 
days,  lieutenant,"  said  he,  in  the  laborious  use  of  the  title  which  among 
regulars  "to  the  manner  born"  had  long  been  replaced  by  "Mr. ;"  and 
had  not  Lambert  asked  for  instructions,  none,  probably,  would  have 
been  given.  Of  his  adventures  during  the  day  he  said  not  a  word.  He 
brought  back  the  mule,  and  that  was  enough.  The  first  thing  Lambert 
and  Burns  knew  of  his  return  was  the  sound  of  his  voice  at  the  wagon, 
informing  the  guard  that  he  wanted  coffee  and  something  to  eat.  Then, 
paying  only  vague  attention  to  Lambert's  congratulations  on  his  safe 
return,  he  told  Burns  to  get  a  detachment  ready  at  once,  then  disap 
peared  within  the  dark  interior  of  his  tent,  leaving  Lambert  standing 
in  some  embarrassment  and  chagrin  outside.  "  Looking  to  see  if  his 
strong  box  is  all  safe,"  whispered  the  first  sergeant  as  he  came  up. 
"It's  under  the  boards — under  his  cot — and  he  never  lets  anybody 
come  in,  not  even  the  marshal." 

It  was  full  five  minutes  before  the  captain  reappeared.  He  struck 
no  light  meantime,  but  could  be  heard  fumbling  around  in  the  dark 
ness.  When  he  came  forth,  he  had  some  papers  in  his  hands.  "  We'll 
go  to  your  tent,  sergeant,"  he  said.  "  Your  desk  is  handier. — How've 
you  got  along,  lieutenant  ?" 

"  Two  men  are  out,  sir ;  Riggs  and  Murphy " 

"  Dam  blackguards,  both  of  'em, — 'specially  Riggs ;  almost  the 
oldest  soldier  in  the  company,  too,"  said  Close,  wrathfully,  seating  him 
self  at  the  desk  and  beginning  to  arrange  the  papers  for  signature. 

"  I  had  been  told  I  should  find  some  splendid  old  oaks  among  the 
rank  and  file,"  hazarded  Lambert,  after  a  pause,  and  thinking  his  com 
mander  should  give  some  directions  in  the  case. 

"Old  oaks?  Old  soaks,  most  like,"  was  the  disdainful  answer, — 
"'specially  Riggs.  He  come  from  the  cavalry.  Why,  I've  had  them 
two  fellows  tied  up  by  the  thumbs  three  times  since  last  March  ;  and  it 
hain't  hurt  'era  no  more  'n  if  they  was  cast  iron.  Better  keep  a  guard 
over  the  mules  while  I'm  away,  sergeant — or,  rather,  lieutenant :  you 
see,  I  ain't  used  to  havin'  anybody  but  the  sergeant.  Oh  !  Now 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  49 

'bout  them  mileage  papers  o'  yourn.    You  said  not  to  send  'em.    Why 
not?" 

"  You've  made  out  a  charge  of  some  sixty-five  dollars  for  transpor 
tation  of  a  servant,  sir  :  I  brought  no  servant  with  me." 

"What's  the  difference?  The  law  'lows  it.  Every  officer's  en 
titled  to  a  servant.  And  if  he  does  his  own  work  he's  entitled  to  what 
his  servant  would  get.  You  didn't  black  your  boots  on  the  way,  did 
you?  You  had  a  servant  do  it.  He  was  with  you  on  the  train, — 
porter  of  the  sleeping-car,  wasn't  he?  /  never  go  in  the  durn  things 
myself,  but  you  did,  I'll  warrant.  Well,  you  paid  him  out  of  your 
pocket,  every  time  you  changed  cars  or  boat." 

"  That  may  be,  sir  ;  but  I  can't  sign  any  such  claim  as  sixty  dollars 
for  transportation  of  servant  when  I  paid  no  such  sum." 

"Then  how're  you  to  get  your  money  back? — the  dimes  and  dol 
lars  you've  given  to  porters  and  waiters  on  the  way  ?  Every  officer 
I  know  would  sign  that  certificate  without  question,  and  every  quar 
termaster  would  pay  it.  Captain  Warren  came  with  you  to  head 
quarters,  at  least.  What  d'you  bet  he  hasn't  drawn  servant's  trans 
portation  ?  You  think  it  over,  lieutenant.  There's  no  sense  in  you 
robbin'  yourself  this  way.  Write  down  to  barracks,  'f  you  like,  and 
see  what  they  say  at  head -quarters.  They'll  tell  you  just  what  I  do." 

"  I'll  sign  the  accounts  without  that,  and  get  the  mileage  for  my 
self,"  said  Lambert.  "  I  need  the  money.  Then  if  it's  allowable  and 
proper  I  can  collect  for  servant  later." 

u  Not  much  you  can't.  There's  where  you  show  your  ignorance. 
Then  the  government  would  make  you  fight  ten  years  for  it,  even  if 
you'd  brought  a  servant  with  you.  The  way  is  to  get  it  first  and  let 
them  stop  it  if  it's  wrong.  But  here,  I  can't  fool  away  time  arguin'  a 
simple  thing  like  that.  I've  got  to  be  miles  away  before  midnight, 
and,  no  matter  who  comes  and  inquires,  you  don't  know  where  we've 
gone.  Now  you  won't  need  any  commissary  funds  or  anything  while 
I'm  away.  Just  pay  cash  and  take  receipts  if  you  buy  vegetables  for 
the  company." 

"  You  forget,  sir,  that  my  money's  gone." 

"Sure  you  hadn't  anything  but  what  was  in  that  pocket-book? — 
Then,  sergeant,  you  do  it,  and  keep  account." 

"  But,  excuse  me,  captain,"  said  Lambert,  flushing,  "  I  myself  will 
need  money.  I  must  find  some  place  to  board.  Keep  those  mileage 

accounts  as  security,  if  you  like,  but  let  me  have  twenty  dollars " 

C  5 


50  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"But  you  hain't  signed  them  :  they're  no  good." 

"I'll  settle  that,"  said  Lambert,  sharply;  and,  taking  a  pen,  he 
drew  a  line  through  the  item  for  transportation  for  servant  and  altered 
the  figures  of  the  total  accordingly,  then,  still  standing  and  bending 
over  the  desk,  slashed  his  signature  with  a  sputtering  pen  upon  the 
paper.  Close  carefully  scrutinized  the  sheet,  compared  it  with  its  du 
plicate  when  that,  too,  was  similarly  finished,  and  stowed  both  away 
in  a  long  -envelope.  "  Sure  you've  got  to  have  twenty  ?"  he  asked,  as 
a  soldier  stuck  his  head  inside  the  tent  door,  retired  precipitately  at 
sight  of  the  junior  lieutenant,  and  then,  from  without,  announced  that 
the  captain  was  served.  "  Well,  I  guess  I  can  get  it  for  you — before 
I  go."  Slowly  he  finished,  slowly  signed,  after  close  study  of  their 
contents,  the  papers  placed  before  him,  then  slowly  left  the  tent  with 
out  another  word.  Not  until  he  had  buckled  on  his  pistol-belt — he 
carried  no  sword — and  was  about  to  start  with  his  silent  and  yawning 
squad,  did  he  seem  to  awake  from  his  fit  of  abstraction,  and  then  only 
when  Lambert  appealed  to  him  for  orders. 

"  Oh,  yes.  Well,  just  have  an  eye  on  them  mules,  will  you,  lieu 
tenant  ?  Everything  else,  almost,  is  under  lock  and  key.  The  quarter 
master  sergeant  is  pretty  solid." 

"  But  in  case  of  disturbance,  or  demands  for  more  detachments,  or 
men  wanting  to  go  away  ?" 

"  There  won't  be  nuthin'  now  fur  a  week.  Do's  you  like  about 
givin'  the  men  a  little  liberty.  They've  had  a  good  deal.  Everything 
around  here  will  be  quiet  enough,  and  you'll  hear  what  I'm  after — 
well,  when  I've  got  it." 

That  night,  though  worn  and  weary  and  downhearted,  Lambert 
could  hardly  sleep.  At  eleven  the  little  detachment  had  trudged  away 
into  the  blackness  of  the  night,  and  the  tramp  of  their  march  was 
swallowed  up  in  the  rustle  of  the  crisp  brown  foliage  and  the  creak  of 
overhanging  branches.  The  men  remaining  in  camp  crawled  back  to 
their  blankets  ;  the  cook-fire  smouldered  away,  only  occasionally  whirl 
ing  forth  a  reluctant  flight  of  sparks  in  response  to  some  vigorous  puff 
of  the  restless  wind  ;  the  sentry  yawned  and  dawdled  about  the  wagon 
and  the  store  tent ;  even  the  mules  seemed  so  sympathetic  with  their 
recovered  associate  that  no  whisper  of  a  bray  came  from  their  pen  on 
the  bank  of  the  stream.  Lambert  had  received  the  assurance  of  his 
sergeant  that  the  missing  men  would  surely  turn  up  before  breakfast 
on  the  morrow,  and  had  given  permission  to  that  harassed  and  evi- 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  51 

dently  disgusted  official  to  go  to  bed.  Then,  after  a  turn  around  his 
sleeping  camp,  the  young  fellow  went  to  his  lonely  roost  "  to  think 
things  over." 

In  the  first  place,  as  he  lighted  his  candle,  there  was  the  tin  pail 
which  had  rolled  out  from  the  Walton  hedge-row,  and  which,  on  in 
spection,  he  had  found  to  contain  about  two  pounds  of  fresh  butter, 
very  neatly  packed  in  lettuce-leaves.  That  proved  that  the  Waltons 
still  had  something  of  their  old  garden  left.  Lettuce  could  surely  be 
raised  only  under  glass  at  this  inclement  season.  He  had  hitherto  had 
no  time  for  close  inspection  of  the  contents.  Now  as  he  turned  over 
the  leaves  he  found  a  little  slip  of  paper  on  which,  in  a  girlish  and 
somewhat  "  scratchy"  hand,  were  penned  the  words,  "  Please  send  small 
currency.  It's  so  hard  to  get  change.  You  can  have  buttermilk 
to-morrow  night  if  you'll  bring  a  pitcher.  Due,  $5T1Tr(^r.  You  must 
pay  it  this  time.  /  must  have  it." 

"  Now,  who  on  earth  is  this  young  lady's  customer  ?"  thought 
Lambert.  "  Surely  not  Close.  He  never  spends  a  cent  on  butter. 
Nobody  else  lives  nearer  than  Parmelee's  to  the  north  or  town  to  the 
south.  Can  it  be  that  some  of  the  sergeants  have  been  buying  supplies 
from  this  quarter  and  running  up  a  butter  bill  ?"  Burns  had  spoken  of 
trouble  between  the  captain  and  the  old  lady  and  of  all  hands  being 
forbidden  to  enter  the  Walton  grounds  on  any  pretext  whatever.  That, 
of  course,  did  not  prohibit  the  men  from  buying  what  the  Walton  ser 
vants  offered  for  sale  outside  the  fence,  and  if  they  were  so  straitened 
in  circumstances  they  might  be  glad  to  find  a  market  for  their  surplus 
produce  even  among  the  Yankee  invaders,  provided  Madam  Walton 
were  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  traffic.  She  was  uncompromising. 
No  intercourse  with,  no  recognition  of,  the  barbarians,  was  her  rule  to 
kith  and  kin,  and  the  few  negroes  who  still  hung  about  the  crumbling 
old  place  repeated  her  words  with  the  fear  born  of  long-continued  dis 
cipline  under  her  roof  and  rod  in  the  days  of  their  enforced  and  un 
questioning  servitude. 

These  and  other  items  of  information  as  to  his  surroundings  the 
young  lieutenant  had  obtained  from  Sergeant  Burns  in  the  course 
of  their  evening  watch  together.  He  had  no  other  means  of  studying 
the  situation,  and  was  but  one  of  many  new  and  comparatively  inex 
perienced  officers  thrown  upon  their  own  resources  at  isolated  posts 
among  "the  States  lately  in  rebellion."  Not  yet  twenty-four  hours  on 
duty  with  his  company,  he  had  been  ordered  to  proceed  with  an  armed 


52  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

force  to  the  succor  of  officers  of  law  supposably  besieged  by  a  rebellious 
mob,  and  now,  at  midnight,  in  the  heart  of  a  strange  country  and  far 
from  the  heart  of  its  people  he  was  commanding  officer  of  his  com 
pany  and  camp,  without  definite  instructions  of  any  kind  and  only  his 
native  common  sense  to  guide  him. 

Lambert  has  since  told  two  women — his  wife  and  his  mother — how 
his  thoughts  wandered  back  to  the  peaceful  old  homestead  in  the  far 
Northland,  and  to  the  teachings  of  his  boyhood  days.  He  made  a  sturdy 
fight  against  the  feeling  of  loneliness  that  oppressed  him.  He  wished 
the  wind  did  not  blow  so  sulkily,  in  such  spiteful,  vicious  puffs.  It 
seemed  as  though  nature  had  combined  with  old  Lady  Walton  to  give 
him  ungracious  welcome  to  this  particularly  shady  side  of  the  sunny 
South.  The  wind  itself  was  whispering  sarcastic  and  withering  remarks 
to  him,  like  those  the  sergeant  repeated  as  coming  from  Madam  Walton 
to  the  defenceless  captain ;  and  even  Burns's  sense  of  subordination 
could  not  down  his  impulse  to  chuckle  over  some  of  them.  What 
would  Lambert  do  or  say  if  the  prim  and  starchy  darne  were  to  call 
upon  him,  as  she  occasionally  had  on  his  superior,  driving  him  at 
last  to  the  refuge  of  the  nethermost  depths  of  his  tent,  whence,  as 
Burns  declared,  "the  captain  couldn't  be  induced  to  come  out  till  the 
old  lady  was  back  inside  her  own  door"  ? 

The  last  time  he  "  tied  up  Riggs" — a  punishment  much  resorted  to 
in  the  rough  war  days  and  those  that  closely  followed  them,  especially 
by  those  officers  who  were  themselves  graduated  from  the  ranks  or  the 
volunteers — it  was  for  trespass  on  the  Walton  place.  The  fellow  had 
climbed  the  fence  and  was  pilfering  among  the  old  fruit-trees  when 
caught  by  Madam  Walton.  That  was  bad  enough,  but  he  had  been 
impudent  to  her,  which  was  worse.  The  men  themselves  would  proba 
bly  have  ducked  him  in  the  stream — the  old,  self-respecting  soldiers, 
that  is — had  the  captain  not  ordered  his  summary  punishment.  Lam 
bert  was  wondering  what  steps  he  should  take  in  the  interests  of  dis 
cipline,  when  he  finally  blew  out  his  candle,  determined,  if  a  possible 
thing,  to  get  to  sleep.  It  was  just  a  quarter-past  twelve  when  he 
wound  his  watch  and  stowed  it  under  his  rude  pillow.  His  revolver, 
the  day's  purchase,  lay,  with  some  matches,  close  at  hand.  He  had 
even  placed  his  sword  and  belt  at  the  foot  of  his  cot.  The  last  thing 
he  thought  of  before  closing  his  eyes  was  that  he  would  have  to  get  a 
lantern  on  the  morrow,  even  if  he  bought  it  of  Cohen ;  but  it  was  also 
the  last  thing  he  thought  of  when  the  morrow  came. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  53 

Was  it  the  wind  again,  whispering  ugly  things,  or  the  ghost  of 
Lady  Walton,  with  her  acidulated  tongue,  that  roused  him,  he  knew 
not  how  many  minutes — or  hours — later?  Something  was  whispering, 
surely.  The  wind  had  been  doing  a  good  deal  of  that  sort  of  thing 
all  the  night  long  among  the  leaves,  a  good  deal  of  snarling  and  growl 
ing  at  times,  and  there  was  muttered  snarling  going  on  around  him 
now.  That  might  be  the  wind  ;  but  the  wind  would  not  trip  up  over 
a  tent-rope  and  say  such  blasphemous  things  about  it,  even  if  it  did 
nearly  pull  the  flimsy  structure  down.  In  an  instant  Lambert  was 
wide  awake. 

"  Who's  there?"  he  challenged,  sternly. 

No  answer, — not  in  words,  at  least, — but  there  was  sound  as  of 
stealthy  yet  hurried  movement,  more  straining  at  the  ropes  on  the  side 
nearest  the  captain's  tent,  and  heavy,  startled  breathing. 

"  Who's  there  ?"  he  repeated,  reaching  for  the  revolver.  "  Answer, 
or  I  fire." 

Then  came  a  mighty  strain,  a  jerk,  a  stumble  and  plunge,  the 
sound  as  of  a  heavy  fall,  followed  by  instant  scramble  and  a  rush  of 
footfalls  around  the  rear  of  camp.  Lambert  was  out  of  bed  and  into 
his  boots  in  half  a  minute;  but  in  his  haste  he  upset  the  chair  on 
which  lay  the  matches,  and  the  box  went  rolling  to  the  floor.  Pistol 
in  hand,  he  darted  out  into  the  night,  and  found  it  black  as  Erebus. 
Quickly  he  ran  to  the  first  sergeant's  tent,  but  Burns  was  hard  to 
waken  after  the  long  day's  work.  Once  roused,  however,  he  was  soon 
out,  lantern  in  hand,  while  Lambert  hastily  dressed,  and  then  together 
they  scouted  camp.  A  glance  at  their  tent  showed  that  Riggs  and 
Murphy  were  still  absent.  A  peep  at  the  watch  showed  that  it  was 
almost  two  o'clock ;  a  search  around  Lambert's  tent  revealed  nothing 
beyond  the  fact  that  the  corner  peg  to  which  the  tent-fly  was  guyed 
was  torn  from  the  ground,  and  the  soft,  sandy  soil  showed  that  heavy 
boot-heels  had  made  their  imprint.  Then  Burns,  still  lantern-bearing, 
went  crouching  low  around  the  back  of  Close's  tent,  while  Lambert, 
with  straining  ears,  stood  stock  still  an  instant  in  front,  then,  of  a 
sudden,  tore  like  mad  through  the  rousing  camp,  out  past  the  dim 
white  canvas  of  the  wagons,  out  past  the  startled  sentry,  up  the  steep 
pathway  to  the  hard  red  road  beyond,  down  which  he  ran  on  the 
wings  of  the  wind  till  he  reached  the  gate-way  to  the  forbidden  ground, 
for  a  woman's  agonized  shriek  had  rung  out  upon  the  night,  and  the 
sound  of  blows,  of  crashing  glass,  of  fierce  and  desperate  struggle,  of 

5* 


54  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

muttered  oaths,  of  panting,  pleading,  half-stifled  cries,  of  wild  dismay 
and  renewed  screams  for  help,  all  came  crowding  on  the  ear  from  the 
heart  of  the  Walton  place. 


VIII. 

As  he  rushed  around  to  the  southern  side  of  the  old  house, — the 
side  whence  all  this  uproar  proceeded, — Lambert  came  suddenly  upon 
two  dim,  swaying  figures.  The  one  nearest  him — that  of  a  man — was 
clutching,  throttling,  apparently,  a  slighter  form  in  white,  a  woman. 
The  butt  of  his  revolver  straightened  out  the  dark  figure  with  one 
crack,  and  then  for  a  moment  everything  was  darkness  and  confusion. 
A  lamp,  held  by  some  screaming  female  at  a  neighboring  window,  was 
dropped  with  a  crash.  The  screams  subsided  to  scurry  and  chatter 
and  Ethiopian  protestations  and  furious  demands  :  "  You  Elinor !  you 
black  uigguh  ! — you  let  me  out  this  room  instantly  /"  Then  rush  of 
footsteps  to  the  window  again,  and  tragic  appeals  :  "  Mamma — ma-am- 
ma !  Whut's  happened?  Do  answer!  Do  make  Elinor  let  me  to 
you,  or  Ah'll  jump  out  this  window.  Ah'm  coming  now."  And  in 
deed  a  dim,  slender  form  could  just  be  descried,  arrayed  in  white,  bend 
ing  low  from  the  casement,  when  Burns  with  his  lantern  came  tearing 
around  the  corner.  Then  a  majestic  voice,  imperious  even  though 
well-nigh  breathless,  was  heard  :  "  Katherine,  return  to  your  bed  in 
stantly.  Do  you  hear?  Instantly  !  And  send  Elinor  to  me." 

That  Katherine  shot  back  within  the  sheltering  blinds  was  possibly 
due  not  so  much  to  the  impetus  given  her  by  those  imperative  orders 
as  to  that  imparted  by  the  sight  of  a  pair  of  shoulder-straps  and  the 
face  of  the  young  officer  gazing  in  bewilderment  about  him.  Well 
might  he  look  amazed  !  At  his  feet  on  the  pathway  Private  Riggs 
was  sprawling,  still  half  stunned  by  the  blow  he  had  received.  On 
his  back,  amidst  the  wreck  of  a  glass  hot-bed,  Private  Murphy  was 
clutching  at  empty  air  and  calling  on  all  the  saints  in  the  Hibernian 
calendar  to  rescue  him  from  the  hands  of  that  old  beldam.  On  the 
pathway,  in  a  loose  wrapper,  her  bosom  heaving  with  mingled  wrath 
and  exhaustion,  one  hand  firmly  clutching  a  stout  cane,  the  other 
clasping  together  at  her  white  neck  the  shreds  of  her  torn  and  dishev 
elled  garb,  her  dark  eyes  flashing  fire,  her  lips  quivering,  stood  a  woman 
certainly  not  fifty  years  of  age,  despite  the  silver  in  the  beautiful  hair 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  55 

streaming  down  upon  her  shoulders,  and  the  deep  lines  of  grief  and 
care  in  her  clear-cut  and  thoroughbred  face.  She  leaned  heavily  on 
the  stick  an  instant,  but  raised  it  threateningly  as  the  luckless  Murphy 
strove  to  sit  up  and  stanch  the  blood  trickling  from  his  lacerated  hands 
and  face. 

"  Don't  you  dare  to  move,  suh,"  she  panted,  "  unless "  And 

the  uplifted  cane  supplied,  most  suggestively,  the  ellipsis. 

"  Oh,  fur  the  luv  o'  God,  ma-am,  don't  hit  me  ag'in !  Sure  I'd 
niver  prezhoome,  ma'am " 

"  Shut  up,  Murphy  !"  growled  Burns.  "  It's  easy  to  see  what 
brought  you  here. — Shall  I  let  Riggs  up,  lieutenant?  He's  bleeding 
a  good  deal." 

But  Riggs  didn't  want  to  get  up.  He  flopped  helplessly  back  upon 
the  grass-plot.  Burns  bent  over  and  held  his  lantern  close.  "  The 
man's  drunk,  sir,"  he  said, — "  and  cut." 

"  /  did  that,  I  presume,"  said  Lambert,  still  a  little  out  of  breath 
after  the  dash  to  the  rescue.  "  I  found  him  daring  to  lay  hands  on 
this  lady. — Madam,  I  sincerely  hope  you  are  not  injured.  It  is  im 
possible  for  me  to  say  how  I  deplore  this  outrage.  These  men  shall 
suffer  for  it,  I  assure  you." 

With  rapid  step  the  corporal  of  the  guard,  bringing  with  him  a 
couple  of  men  and  another  lantern,  came  hurriedly  to  the  scene  and 
stood  silent  and  alert,  glancing  eagerly  from  face  to  face.  Two  or  three 
frightened  negroes  had  crept  around  the  rear  portico  and  hung  trembling 
behind  their  mistress.  With  a  shawl  thrown  over  her  head  and  shoul 
ders,  a  quadroon  girl  halted  half-way  down  the  steps  from  the  side 
door,  her  eyes  dilated,  and  her  lips  twitching  in  terror,  until  a  low 
voice  from  within  bade  her  go  on,  and  a  tall,  dark-haired,  pale-faced 
girl  in  long,  loose  wrapper  fairly  pushed  her  forward  and  then  stepped 
quickly  to  the  elder  woman's  side. 

"  Go  back  to  the  house  at  once,  my  child.  This  is  no  place  for  you. 
Go  to  Katherine  and  tell  her  I  say  she  must  not  leave  her  bed.  Go !" 
And  silently  as  she  came,  but  with  infinite  and  evident  reluctance,  the 
tall  girl  turned  and  obeyed.  Mrs.  Walton  had  spoken  slowly  and  with 
effort.  Of  Mr.  Lambert  and  his  party  she  had  as  yet  taken  no  notice 
whatever.  Again  Murphy  began  to  squirm  in  his  uncomfortable  couch 
of  mingled  mud  and  broken  glass  and  head-lettuce,  and  the  crackling 
accompaniment  to  his  moaning  once  more  made  him  the  object  of  the 
lady's  attention." 


66  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"Lie  still,  suh,"  she  said,  low  and  sternly.  "You  have  broken 
moh  glass  now,  suh,  than  youh  captain  can  replace.  Lie  still  whuh 
you  are  until  my  suh  van  ts  lift  you  out. — Henry  !"  she  called. 

"  Ye-assum,"  was  the  answer,  as  one  of  the  negroes  came  reluctantly 
forward,  humbly  twirling  a  battered  hat  in  his  hands. 

"  Go  fetch  your  barrow." 

"  Indeed,  Mrs.  Walton,"  interposed  Lambert,  "  you  need  not  trouble 
yourself.  The  guard  shall  carry  these  two  scoundrels  to  camp,  and 
prison  life  at  Ship  Island,  or  Tortugas,  will  put  a  stop  to  their  prowl 
ing.  It  is  on  your  account  I  am  distressed.  We  have  no  surgeon  at 
hand ;  I  will  send  at  once  for  the  doctor  in  town " 

She  raised  a  slender  white  hand,  relinquishing  her  grasp  upon  the 
cane,  which  now  went  clattering  upon  the  gravel  of  the  walk.  It  was 
a  sign  to  check  him,  and  respectfully  he  broke  off  in  his  hurried  words. 
Then  again  she  turned  to  the  negro,  who  stood  with  twitching  face, 
irresolute,  beside  her. 

"  Did  you  hear  me,  Henry  ?     Go." 

Again  Riggs  began  to  groan  and  stretch  forth  feeble  hands.  Burns 
looked  appealingly  to  his  young  officer,  then  as  appealingly  to  the  lady. 
Clearly,  she  was  the  mistress  of  the  situation.  Lambert  had  quickly 
stooped  and  picked  up  the  cane,  but  she  did  not  see,  apparently,  that 
he  wished  to  restore  it  to  her.  In  the  light  of  the  lanterns  the  mark 
of  Riggs's  clutch  was  plainly  visible  at  her  white  and  rounded  throat. 

"  Two  of  you  lift  this  fellow,"  said  Burns  to  the  corporal ;  and 
between  them  Riggs  was  heaved  to  his  sprawling  feet.  "  Get  him  over 
to  camp  now  and  bathe  his  head.  Put  a  bayonet  through  him  if  he 
tries  to  bolt.  I'll  be  there  presently." 

And  of  Riggs,  her  assailant,  and  of  Riggs's  removal  under  guard, 
the  lady  of  the  Walton  homestead  took  no  note  whatever.  Rebuffed, 
yet  sympathetic,  Lambert  again  essayed  to  speak,  but  the  rattle  of  the 
barrow  was  heard,  and  Henry  once  more  loomed  up  within  the  zone  of 
lantern  light. 

"  Lift  that — puhson — out,"  she  said.  And  when  Burns  would  have 
lent  a  helping  hand,  she  interposed  :  "  No,  I  beg  you.  My  suh  van  ts 
will  attend  to  this."  And  neither  Lambert  nor  his  sergeant  made  fur 
ther  effort.  Murphy,  lifted  from  the  wreck  of  the  ruined  hot-bed, 
abject  and  crestfallen,  scratched  and  bruised  and  bleeding,  yet  neither 
so  deadened  by  drink  nor  so  stunned  by  the  rain  of  blows  which  he 
had  suffered  as  not  to  appreciate  the  humiliation  of  his  position,  was 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  57 

squatted  in  the  barrow.  At  an  imperious  gesture  from  Madam  Wal 
ton,  Henry  started  to  wheel  him  away,  the  corporal  of  the  guard  in 
close  attendance. 

And  then,  with  calm  dignity  and  recovered  breath,  the  lady  turned 
to  the  boy  officer : 

"  I  have  not  thanked  you  yet " 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Walton,  I  beg  you  not  to  speak  of  thanks.  If  you 
knew  how — how  ashamed  I  am,  and  my  regiment  will  be — that  any 

of  our  men  could  have  dared "     The  very  intensity  of  the  young 

fellow's  indignation  choked  him,  and  gave  her  the  floor. 

"Once  before  this  they  came,  and  then  I  warned.  This  time, 
having  no  men  to  call  upon"  (negroes,  it  seems,  could  not  be  counted 
as  such),  "  I  was  compelled,  myself,  to  chastise.  May  I  ask  the  safe 
return  of  our  barrow, — it  is  the  only  vehicle  the  war  has  left  us, — and 
that  we  may  now  be  permitted  to  retire  ?"  And  she  swept  a  stately 
courtesy. 

"  But,  madam "  began  Lambert,  utterly  chagrined  at  the  attitude 

of  cold  and  determined  avoidance  in  which  she  persisted,  "  you  have 
been  brutally  handled ;  I  insist  on  sending  for  our  contract  doctor :  it 
is  the  best  we  can  offer  to-night " 

"  Neither  to-night,  nor  at  any  other  time,  would  his  suhvices  be 
acceptable,  suh.  I  need  no  doctoh.  We  learned — we  had  to  learn — 
how  to  do  without  luxuries  of  every  kind  during  the  war ;  and  Dr. 
Hand — I  think  that  is  the  name  of  the  physician  you  refer  to — would 
be  too  much  of  a  luxury  at  any  time.  I  regret  that  your  men  should 
need  his  suhvices,  but  they  brought  it  on  themselves." 

"They  will  need  him  more  before  the  captain  gets  through  with 
'em,  ma'am,"  said  Sergeant  Burns,  seeing  that  his  young  superior  was 
at  a  loss  what  to  say.  As  he  spoke,  the  tall,  dark-haired  girl  once 
more  appeared,  and  swiftly,  noiselessly  stepped  to  her  mother's  side. 
"There'd  be  no  need  of  a  court-martial  or  of  your  having  to  testify, 
if  Captain  Close  could  settle  this — or  let  us  do  it." 

"  Mother,  come  in, — please  do, — and  let  these  gentlemen  go,"  said 
the  girl.  "  Indeed,  we  are  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  she  continued, 
addressing  Lambert,  "  for  coming  so  quickly.  That  one,  who  seemed 
intoxicated,  might  have  killed  mother,  who  is  far  from  strong.  They 
had  opened  the  cellar  door,  you  see."  And  she  pointed  to  where  the 
broad  wooden  leaf  had  been  turned  back,  leaving  a  black  yawning 
chasm. 

C* 


58  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"Your  mother  is  faint,"  cried  Lambert,  springing  forward  just  in 
time,  for,  now  that  victor)7  was  perched  upon  her  banners,  the  foe 
soundly  thrashed  and  driven  from  the  field,  nature — woman-nature — 
had  reasserted  herself,  and  the  lady  of  Walton  Hall  would  have  sunk 
to  earth  but  for  the  strong  young  arms  that  received  her.  Then  came 
renewed  outcry  from  within-doors.  Miss  Katherine  could  not  have . 
obeyed  the  maternal  mandate,  for  there  she  was  at  the  window,  insist 
ent,  clamorous.  "  Bring  her  right  in  hyuh /"  she  cried.  "  Do  you 
hyuk  what  I  say,  Estuh  ?  Oh,  who  day-uhd  to  lock  me  in  this  room  ? 
You  Elinor  !  open  this  do'  instantly,  I  tell  you  !" 

A  moment  later,  when,  by  the  light  of  Burns's  lantern,  now  in 
Miss  Esther's  trembling  grasp,  the  two  men  bore  the  limp  and  nerve 
less  shape  into  the  nearest  room  and  laid  it  reverently  upon  the  sofa,  a 
wild-eyed  and  dishevelled  young  woman  threw  herself  at  her  mother's 
side  and  began  chafing  and  slapping  the  slender  white  hands  and 
begging  all  manner  of  absurd  and  impossible  things  of  the  prostrate, 
pallid,  death-like  form.  Elinor,  who  had  obeyed  orders  and  locked 
that  impulsive  damsel  in,  had  now  released  her  and  then  collapsed. 

"  Do  not  try  to  raise  her  head,"  said  Lambert  gently  to  the  fright 
ened  child,  who,  having  exhausted  one  effort,  was  now  striving  to  revive 
her  mother  with  passionate  kisses.  "  We  must  restore  the  circulation 
to  the  brain.  Pardon  me  :  have  you  a  little  brandy?  or  whiskey?" 

"  There  isn't  a  drop  in  the  house,"  answered  Miss  Walton,  pite- 
ously.  "  We  had  some,  that  had  been  in  the  cellar  for  years,  that 
mother  hid  during  the  war ;  but — but — it  was  being  stolen,  or  some 
thing — and  she  sold  what  was  left." 

Burns  quickly  left  the  room.  When  he  returned,  a  few  minutes 
later,  he  held  forth  a  little  flask.  Mrs.  Walton  still  lay  senseless,  and 
her  condition  was  alarming  to  one  and  all.  Lambert  poured  out  a 
stiif  dose.  "  Make  her  take  it  all,  little  by  little,"  he  whispered  to 
Miss  Walton,  and  then,  with  calm  decision,  stooped,  and,  encircling  the 
slender  waist  of  the  younger  girl  with  his  arm,  quickly  lifted  her  to  her 
feet.  A  tress  of  her  rich  red-brown  hair  was  caught  in  his  shoulder- 
strap,  but  neither  noticed  it.  Such  was  the  patient's  prostration  that 
for  a  moment  even  brandy  failed  of  its  stimulating  effect.  Not  until 
several  spoonfuls  had  been  forced  between  her  blue  lips  did  there  come 
that  shivering  sigh  that  tells  of  reviving  consciousness.  The  white 
hands  began  feebly  to  pluck  at  her  dress  and  the  heavy  eyelids  to 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  59 

open  slowly.  ';  We  will  fall  back,"  whispered  Lambert.  "  I'll  wait 
in  the  hall." 

But  when  he  turned  to  tiptoe  away,  a  very  touzled,  tangled,  dis 
hevelled,  but  pretty  head  had  to  come,  too.  There  was  too  much  of 
that  fine,  shining,  shimmering  tress  to  let  go.  Burns  was  already  creak 
ing  out  into  the  dark  passage.  Miss  Walton  was  absorbed  in  her 
mother's  face.  Miss  Katherine's  rounded  cheek  had  flushed  as  red  as 
the  invalid's  was  white,  and  both  her  tiny  hands  were  madly  tugging 
and  pulling  at  the  offending  tendrils  ;  but  who  could  work  to  advantage 
with  the  back  or  side  of  one's  head  practically  clamped  to  the  work 
bench  ?  Miss  Katherine  could  not  tear  herself  loose  except  at  the  risk 
of  carrying  away  a  square  inch  or  more  of  scalp,  for  the  strap  would 
not  yield,  and  its  wearer  could  not  help  so  long  as  her  own  hands  were 
tugging.  There  was  every  likelihood,  therefore,  that  the  tableau  on 
which  Madam  Walton's  opening  eyes  should  gaze  would  be  about  the 
very  last  she  would  care  to  see, — the  bonnie  head  of  her  precious  child 
reposing,  to  all  appearance,  on  a  shoulder  in  Yankee  blue, — when 
Lambert,  alive  to  the  desperate  nature  of  the  situation,  quickly  cast 
loose  the  two  or  three  buttons  of  the  flannel  sack-coat  then  so  much  in 
vogue,  and,  slipping  out  of  that  and  into  the  hall,  rejoined  his  imper 
turbable  sergeant. 

"  I  hope  the  lieutenant  will  pardon  my  taking  his  flask.  I  saw  it 
in  the  tent  this  evening,  sir,  and  the  captain  didn't  leave  the  key  of 
the  medical  chest, — with  me,  leastwise." 

"  You  did  right.  That  was  some  good  cognac  they  got  for  me  in 
New  Orleans.  I  hope  it  will  revive  her.  Ought  we  not  to  send  for 
Dr.  Hand?" 

"No,  sir,"  whispered  Burns.  "  She  wouldn't  have  him  for  one  of 
her  niggers — and  be  damned  to  them.  I  know  now  where  Riggs  had 
been  getting  his  liquor,  and  where  our  coffee  and  sugar  has  been  going. 
He's  bribed  these  thieving  servants  of  hers  to  steal  that  precious  brandy, 
and  those  dam  scoundrels  broke  into  the  cellar  to-night  to  get  more." 

"  But  they  must  have  been  drinking  in  the  first  place.  Where 
could  they  have  got  that  liquor?  Hers  was  gone, — sold." 

"  In  town,  somewhere.  I'll  find  out "  But  here  the  lieutenant 

checked  him.  A  feeble  voice  was  just  audible  in  the  adjoining  room  : 

"Have  they  gone?  Have  I  been  ill?  Esther— daughter,  see 
that — No !  /must  see  that  young  officer,  at  once." 


60  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"  Not  to-night,  mother,"  answered  the  elder  girl,  pleadingly.  "  Not 
to-night.  To-morrow  :  you'll  be  rested  then." 

"That  may  be  too  late.  Whatever  happens,  there  must  be  no 
court-martial.  He  said  /should  have  to  testify;  so  would  you.  You 
saw,  Esther,  and  if  under  oath  we  should  have  to  tell " 

"  Quick  !  Come  out  of  this  I"  whispered  Lambert,  hoarsely,  and 
dragged  the  sergeant  after  him  to  the  dark  and  wind-swept  shadows  of 
the  yard. 

IX. 

Sunday  morning  came,  gloomy,  cloudy,  with  the  wind  still  moan 
ing  among  the  almost  leafless  branches  and  whirling  dust-clouds  from 
the  crooked  road.  After  a  night  of  so  much  excitement  camp  slept 
late.  Lambert  was  aroused  somewhere  about  seven  by  a  scratching  at 
the  tent-flap,  and  Sergeant  Burns,  answering  the  summons  to  "  come 
in,"  poked  his  freshly  shaven  face  through  a  framing  of  white  canvas 
to  ask  if  he  might  send  the  lieutenant  some  breakfast  from  the  cook- 
fire.  It  was  barely  twenty-four  hours  since  his  arrival  in  camp,  and 
so  crowded  had  these  hours  been  with  event,  experience,  and  novelty 
that  the  young  officer  seemed  to  feel  he  had  been  a  month  on  duty. 
There  lay  his  blue  flannel  blouse  at  the  foot  of  his  cot.  Unseen 
hands  had  tossed  it  from  the  window  at  which  on  his  first  appearance 
the  previous  night  a  slender,  white-robed  form  had  been  piteously  crying 
for  help.  He  drew  it  to  him  and  searched  the  left  shoulder-strap. 
Yes!  Even  now  three  or  four  long  curling  hairs  were  twining  like 
the  tendrils  of  a  vine  about  its  dead-gold  border  and  across  the  field  of 
sky-blue  velvet, — another  vogue  of  the  day.  "  She  had  time  to  dis 
entangle  the  mass,  but  could  not  see  these  fine  filaments  in  so  dim  a 
light,"  he  laughed  to  himself.  "  Only  fancy  what  my  Merrimac  madre 
would  say  if  she  were  to  hear  that  a  pretty  head — a  Southern  girl's 
head — had  been  resting  on  my  shoulder  the  very  first  night  I  got 
here  !  Only  fancy  what  the  damsel  herself  would  say,  if  she  had  a 
chance  to  say  anything!  And  as  for  her  mamma — well,  what  wouldn't 
she  say  ?" 

Lambert  had  lots  to  think  of  as  he  made  his  soldier  toilet  and  came 
forth  into  the  gloomy,  moisture-laden  air,  for  the  southeasterly  wind 
was  sweeping  the  rain-clouds  up  from  the  distant  gulf,  and  nature 
looked  bleak  and  dismal.  Two  items  occurred  to  give  him  comfort. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  61 

No  sooner  had  he  stepped  out  into  the  open  space  than  the  one  sentry 
at  the  other  end  of  camp  shouted,  "Turn  out  the  guard — commanding 
officer  !"  which  was  unnecessary  at  the  distance  and  under  the  circum 
stances,  yet  clearly  proved  that  the  disposition  among  the  men  was  to 
"  brace  up"  in  recognition  of  the  arrival  of  an  officer  who  knew  what 
discipline  meant. 

And  then,  looking  suspiciously  as  though  he  had  been  waiting  for  a 
chance  to  undo  the  ill  effect  of  his  blunder  of  the  previous  day,  there 
in  front  of  Burns's  tent  stood  Corporal  Cunningham,  company  clerk  ; 
and  the  salute  with  which  he  honored  the  camp  commander  was  as 
pregnant  with  good  intent  as  it  was  clumsy  in  execution.  Somebody 
had  placed  an  empty  clothing-box  by  the  side  of  his  tent,  covered  it 
with  canvas  fly,  and  set  this  improvised  table  for  one  with  the  best  tins 
the  company  mess  afforded.  Somebody  else  had  carefully  blacked  the 
lieutenant's  boots  and  shoes,  and  presently  up  came  a  young  German 
soldier  bearing  the  lieutenant's  breakfast  on  the  company  cook's  bread 
board,  which  was  covered  with  a  clean  white  towel. 

"  Burns  is  one  of  the  oaks,  at  any  rate,"  thought  Lambert,  as  the 
sergeant  followed  to  see  that  all  was  in  proper  order.  Ham  and  eggs, 
"soldier  coffee,"  a  can  of  milk,  corn-bread  and  hard-tack,  were  set 
before  him  with  pardonable  pride,  and  Burns  explained  that  they 
bought  eggs,  milk,  and  corn-bread  of  an  old  darky  who  came  over  from 
the  village  almost  every  day.  Then  Lambert  bethought  him  of  his 
captured  pail  of  butter,  and  brought  it  from  the  tent.  "  This  does  not 
belong  to  me,"  he  said.  "  It  rolled  out  from  the  Walton  hedge  last 
evening.  Do  you  know  who  their  regular  customer  is?" 

"  I  don't,  sir.  Yet  I  know  McBride  and  others  have  sometimes 
had  butter, — good  butter  too,  like  this.  The  captain  doesn't  buy  any, 
and  wouldn't  allow  the  company  to  buy  any  there.  Not  that  he  cared, 
sir ;  only  the  old  lady  was  so  uppish  and  made  such  a  row  when  any 
of  our  fellows  were  seen  even  talking  to  her  people  that  he  gave  regular 
orders  forbidding  it.  No  one  from  the  Walton  place  dare  set  foot  in 
side  camp,  and  he'll  make  it  hot  for  Riggs  when  he  gets  back.  Murphy 
is  less  to  blame,  but  will  have  to  go  to  Ship  Island  all  the  same,  I 
reckon." 

"  How  are  those  two  this  morning?" 

"Riggs  is  stupid  drunk  yet,  but  Murphy  swears  he'd  only  gone  to 
try  to  get  Riggs  out  of  trouble  :  he'd  hardly  been  drinking  at  all.  He 
begs  to  see  the  lieutenant,  sir.  He  says  he  can  explain  the  whole  thing." 

6* 


62  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

And  so,  later  that  morning,  after  Lambert  had  given  his  men  a 
further  lesson  by  inspecting  both  company  and  camp  and  pointing  out 
no  end  of  things  which  could  not,  he  said,  be  tolerated  in  future, 
Murphy  was  brought  to  his  tent.  His  face  and  hands  were  badly  cut 
in  places,  but  his  bruises  were  of  little  account.  With  the  best  inten 
tions  in  the  world,  the  good  lady  had  not  the  strength  for  the  trouncing 
the  fellow  had  deserved  at  her  hands.  The  story  he  told  was  hardly 
credible.  Lambert  could  have  ordered  him  back  with  sharp  rebuke 
for  his  falsifications,  but  a  glance  at  Burns's  war-worn  face,  clouded 
and  perplexed,  gave  the  young  commander  pause.  "  Do  you  really 
expect  me  to  believe  this  ?"  he  asked,  and  Murphy  answered,  "  I'm 
ready  to  make  oath  to  it  before  the  praste,  sorr." 

And  this,  in  effect,  was  the  Irishman's  tale.  He  had  known  his 
"bunky" — Riggs — only  since  that  worthy's  enlistment  in  the  company 
the  previous  winter,  but  this  much  of  Riggs  almost  everybody  knew; 
that  he  had  been  a  sergeant  during  the  war  days,  and  was  serving  an 
enlistment  in  the  regular  cavalry  when  deprived,  for  persistent  drinking, 
of  his  chevrons.  The  troop  to  which  he  was  attached  had  been  sta 
tioned  at  Quitman  and  in  this  section  of  the  South  for  a  year  or  more, 
but  was  ordered  to  the  Indian  country  just  about  the  time  of  Riggs's 
discharge  by  expiration  of  term  of  service.  Then,  after  a  protracted 
spree  in  New  Orleans,  he  turned  up  at  the  barracks  and  "  took  on" 
again  in  the  infantry,  and  in  the  very  company  which,  oddly  enough, 
was  so  soon  ordered  up  to  the  region  he  knew  so  well.  Indeed,  Riggs 
claimed  when  drinking  to  have  acquaintance  not  only  with  the  Walton 
ladies,  but  with  some  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  Quitman  County, 
and  frequently  boasted  of  the  good  times  he  would  have  could  he  only 
get  over  there.  Another  thing  about  Riggs :  he  had  twice  got  Murphy 
to  go  as  his  substitute  on  certain  detachment  or  posse  duty,  offering 
as  excuse  that  marching  wore  him  out,  yet  admitting  to  Murphy  that 
there  were  other  reasons.  "  There  are  men  in  this  section  who'd  shoot 
me  on  sight, — get  the  drop  on  me, — pick  me  off  from  the  woods  or 
fences,"  he  had  explained.  Murphy  believed  him,  and  believed,  too, 
his  statement  that  he  had  powerful  friends  even  among  officers  and 
gentlemen  who  had  fought  through  the  war  on  the  Southern  side.  "He 
got  money  when  he  needed  it,  and  spent  it  like  a  gentleman,"  said 
Murphy ;  which,  being  interpreted,  meant  that  he  liberally  squandered 
it  on  his  comrades. 

But  Riggs  had  of  late  been  out  of  money :  he  "  couldn't  hear  from 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  63 

his  friends,"  said  Murphy,  and  was  getting  in  trouble.  He  owed  poker 
debts  in  the  company  and  liquor  debts  in  town.  He  couldn't  get  a 
drink  on  trust,  and  the  men  were  shy  of  playing  with  him ;  but  he 
had  always  been  liberal  to  Murphy  when  in  funds,  and  Murphy  stood 
by  him  now.  About  nine  o'clock,  therefore,  the  previous  evening,  he 
noticed  that  Riggs  was  greatly  excited  when  an  old  darky  came  sham 
bling  in  and  gave  him  a  little  note.  The  negro  had  occasionally  come 
before,  and  did  not  seem  to  belong  either  in  town  or  at  the  Walton 
place.  Riggs  stole  out  to  the  road,  despite  Murphy's  warning,  and 
came  back  in  less  than  ten  minutes,  bidding  Murphy  in  eager  whisper 
to  be  quick  and  come  with  him.  It  was  evident  even  then  that  Riggs 
had  had  a  drink  or  two.  Murphy  reminded  him  of  the  lieutenant's 
orders  and  begged  him  to  run  no  risk ;  and  then  Riggs  broke  out  and 
told  him  that,  come  what  might,  he'd  simply  got  to  go  to  town,  and 
Murphy  with  him.  He  would  explain  when  they  got  out  of  camp, 
but  there  wasn't  a  minute  to  lose;  and  Murphy  went  along,  "just  to 
keep  him  out  of  trouble."  Out  in  the  darkness  a  stranger  joined  them, 
gave  Riggs  some  low-toned  orders,  but  refused  to  let  him  have  another 
drink.  They  were  stealing  along  the  road  together,  trying  to  dodge 
the  flickering  firelight,  when  it  suddenly  flared  up  and  must  have 
betrayed  them,  for  a  moment  later  they  heard  Burns  shouting  after 
them.  Then  the  stranger  "  lept  the  fince"  into  the  Walton  place ; 
Riggs  darted  away  and  ran  like  a  streak  :  so  he  followed  Riggs. 

When  at  safe  distance  from  camp  Riggs  slowed  up  and  told  what 
he  had  agreed  to  do.  At  Cohen's  store  was  a  box  containing  some 
expensive  wine  and  cordials  which  had  been  prescribed  for  Mrs.  Wal 
ton  two  weeks  before  by  their  old  family  physician  and  ordered  sent 
from  New  Orleans.  It  was  one  of  the  sad  cases  common  in  the  South 
in  those  hard  times.  Miss  Walton,  who  wrote  the  order  without  her 
mother's  knowledge,  had  no  money  to  send,  and  the  firm  had  none  to 
lose.  She  explained  that  the  wine  was  needed  at  once,  and  the  money 
would  be  at  hand  in  the  course  of  ten  days.  The  wine  was  sent,  care 
of  Cohen  &  Co.,  with  instructions  to  collect  first ;  and  not  until  this 
night  had  there  been  money  enough  to  pay  for  it.  Now  "  a  gentle 
man,"  whom  Riggs  knew  well,  had  brought  them  help ;  but  he  him 
self  could  not  go  to  Tugaloo  because  of  certain  past  events  with  which 
he  was  intimately  connected,  and  none  of  the  Walton  servants  dared 
go,  because  of  the  tremendous  stories  in  circulation  concerning  the 


64  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

events  of  the  day.  The  gentleman  had  come  a  long  distance  at  big 
risk  to  see  the  lady,  Riggs  declared,  and  must  get  away  that  night. 

In  this  dilemma  Riggs  was  called  on  for  help.  His  chivalric 
nature  was  aroused — presumably  ;  or  possibly  "  the  tiger  had  tasted 
blood"  and  needed  more.  Riggs  had  got  the  gentleman's  last  drink, 
and  the  money  for  more  was  now  in  his  hands.  But  the  gentleman 
had  stipulated  that  a  reliable  man  must  go  with  him  to  fetch  the 
precious  packet  in  case  Riggs  "  got  full ;"  and  Murphy  was  the  man. 
"  We  got  the  box,  sorr,  an'  Riggs  his  bottle  of  liquor,  an'  come  back 
all  right,  an'  we  stole  in  there  as  we  were  bid,  an'  raised  the  cellar 
door,  an'  I  carried  down  the  box  to  the  fut  of  thim  slippery  steps  me- 
self,  for  Riggs  was  gettin'  noisy-like.  An'  thin  we  stole  away,  niver 
disturbin'  anybody,  sorr,  only  doin'  the  poor  leddy  a  kindness,  as  we 
were  towld.  We  didn't  see  or  hear  annybody.  It  was  afther  it  all 
the  throuble  came." 

There  was  pathos  in  Murphy's  description  of  the  "throuble." 
Their  task  accomplished,  Murphy  sought  to  get  Riggs  to  his  tent,  but 
the  man  had  drunk  just  enough  to  be  rabid  for  more,  and  in  the 
struggle  the  bottle  fell  with  the  gill  or  two  remaining  and  was  smashed. 
This  was  indeed  a  catastrophe.  Riggs  had  that  fearful  craze  for  alcohol 
which  is  satiated  only  when  the  victim  lapses  into  drunken  stupor. 
Murphy  got  him  to  the  tent  and  to  bed,  and  thought  he  had  him  safe, 
but  awoke  later  to  find  him  gone, — gone  for  more  liquor ;  but  where  ? 
None  was  to  be  had  in  camp,  unless  he  broke  into  the  captain's  medi 
cal  stores,  which,  Murphy  argued,  he  wouldn't  dare  attempt  with  the 
lieutenant  lying  there  alongside.  All  of  a  sudden  it  flashed  over  him 
that  his  wretched  "  bunky,"  after  having  faithfully  acquitted  himself 
of  his  trust  before  the  fatal  whiskey-logging  of  his  moral  sense,  had 
now  stolen  off  in  the  darkness  to  rob  the  very  household  for  whose 
sake,  or  that  of  the  bribing  liquor,  he  had  braved  punishment.  Riggs 
had  gone  back  for  that  wine. 

The  Irish  soldier  has  his  faults,  God  knows,  but  desertion  of  his 
fellow,  even  in  face  of  torture,  is  not  one  of  them.  Murphy  stole 
away,  hoping  it  was  not  too  late  to  recapture  Riggs,  and  came  upon 
him,  just  as  he  feared,  tugging  at  something  at  the  foot  of  those  dark 
and  slippery  steps.  Then  came  a  struggle  that,  after  at  last  he  had 
borne  his  fiercely  battling  comrade  up  into  the  night,  left  Murphy 
breathless  and  exhausted.  And  then  came  the  rain  of  blows  that 
toppled  him,  crashing,  into  the  ruin  of  the  hot-bed. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  65 

"She  came  upon  me  that  sudden  and  furious-like,  sorr,  I  couldn't 
explain  ;  an'  it  was  tryin'  to  pacificate  her  I  was,  backin'  off,  an'  niver 
see  the  hot-bed  behind  me  fur  the  hot  batin'  I  was  gettin'  afront.  An' 
thin  whin  she  had  me  down  on  the  flat  of  me  back,  an'  graspin'  at 
thim  glass  works,  poor  Riggs,  niver  knowin'  what  he  was  doin',  sorr, 
only  to  help  me,  grappled  with  the  ould  lady  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
postulatiu',  an'  thin  that  naygur  wench  run  screech  in'  into  the  house, 
an'  the  young  lady  came  shriekin'  to  the  windy,  an'  the  stranger — the 
gentleman — lept  to  the  side  door,  an'  I  a-callin'  to  him  to  come  an' 
square  me  an'  Riggs,  whom  he  got  into  the  scrape,  an'  there  was 
more  screanrin',  an'  he  niver  so  much  as  axed  to  shpake,  but  run  fur 
his  life  when  the  lieutenant  jumped  in  an'  batthered  Riggs,  who  was 
only  askin'  a  chance  to  explain." 

"  Do  you  expect  me  to  believe  that  any  gentleman  stood  there  and 
saw  Riggs  grapple  that  poor  lady  and  never  raised  hand  to  stop  it?" 
asked  Lambert,  almost  angrily. 

"  It's  God's  thruth,  sorr.  He  was  makin'  motions,  crazy-like, 
but  he  niver  came  outside  that  door-way  until  he  saw  the  lieutenant, 
an'  then  the  lamp  wint  out,  wid  him  a-runnin'." 

The  lieutenant  pondered  a  moment.  Had  Sergeant  Burns  ventured 
on  an  expression  of  doubt,  the  interview  would  have  come  to  an  end 
at  once,  with  Murphy  in  disgrace ;  but  Burns  looked  full  of  honest 
perplexity  and  yet  belief. 

"  You  ought  to  have  had  sense  enough  to  know  I  should  be  glad 
to  send  to  town  for  anything  Mrs.  Walton  needed,"  said  Lambert. 
"  Why  didn't  Riggs  ask  permission  ? — or  why  didn't  you  ?" 

Murphy  was  certainly  frank.  "Sure  we  both  knew  it  would  be 
anybody  but  Riggs  the  lieutenant  would  send.  We  were  guilty  enough 
of  going  to  town  without  permission,  an'  drinkin' ;  but  it  was  charity, 
not  thavin',  sorr,  that  we  entered  the  garden  for." 

"  You  may  send  Murphy  back,  sergeant.  We'll  have  to  hold  him 
until  Riggs  can  tell  his  story.  Of  course,"  said  Lambert,  as  the  Irish 
man  was  led  away,  "  if  there's  anything  in  this  story  about  the  stranger, 
it  helps  their  case  materially.  There  was  certainly  something  queer 
about  the  agitated  words  Mrs.  Walton  used  just  before  we  came  away, 
— words  about  their  testimony  and  preventing  court-martial.  You 
heard,  did  you  not?" 

"  Yes,  sir, — a  little,  anyhow." 

6* 


66  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"Can  you  imagine  who  the  man  is,  or  account  for  his  strange 
behavior  ?" 

"  I  can't,  sir.  It  might  have  been  one  of  those  three  or  four  that 
Mr.  Parmelee  hauled  in, — one  of  the  Potts  crowd  ;  but  the  idea  of  his 
standing  back  and  letting  the  old  lady  have  that  tussle  all  to  herself! 

That  couldn't  happen,  sir,  North  or  South,  unless "  And  Burns 

stopped  short. 

"Unless  what?" 

"  Well,  sir,  unless  there  were  reasons  he  daren't  let  her  know  he 
was  there." 


X. 

At  noon  that  Sunday  it  began  to  rain,  adding  to  the  gloom  of  Lam 
bert's  surroundings,  and  he  sat  listening  to  the  steady  downpour  drum 
ming  on  the  tautened  canvas  of  his  tent,  thinking  of  the  odd  contrasts 
brought  about  by  army  life.  This  was  his  first  Sunday  with  his  com 
pany,  and  in  every  possible  way  it  was  about  as  unlike  every  Sunday 
of  his  previous  life  as  it  well  could  be.  He  was  trying  to  write  to 
the  mother  far  away  on  the  peaceful  banks  of  the  Merrimac,  where  the 
rolling  hills  were  by  this  time  wearing  their  early  mantle  of  snow,  and 
old  and  young,  farm-hands  and  mill-hands,  a  reverent  populace,  had 
obeyed  the  summons  of  the  solemn  bells  that  found  no  echo  among 
these  dripping  woods,  these  desolate  fields. 

At  intervals  during  the  moist  and  chilly  morning  little  squads  of 
negroes  had  hung  about  the  westward  end  of  camp.  Something  of  the 
events  of  the  previous  night  had  been  put  in  circulation  with  the  dawn, 
and,  growing  as  it  rolled,  had  attained  huge  proportions  by  the  time 
it  reached  the  outlying  plantations  five  and  ten  miles  away.  This, 
coupled  with  the  tremendous  story  of  the  jail  delivery  at  Tugaloo,  had 
been  sufficient  to  draw  the  bolder  of  their  number  towards  that  centre 
of  interest,  the  Yankee  camp, — though  farther  they  dared  not  go.  At 
times  there  would  be  some  rude  soldier  chaff  between  the  men  at  the 
guard-tent  and  these  curious  visitors ;  and  no  matter  how  poor  the  wit, 
it  never  failed  of  its  reward  of  abundant  guffaw.  The  Southern  negro 
needs  no  visit  to  the  Blarney  stone :  his  flattery  is  spontaneous. 

When  Lambert  had  finished  his  conference  with  Burns,  and,  as  in 
duty  bound,  went  over  to  the  Walton  place  to  inquire  how  its  chdte- 
laine  had  passed  the  night,  he  marched  forth  through  a  little  congrega- 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  67 

tion  of  shining  black  faces  and  obsequious  and  tattered  forms,  and  had 
to  run  the  gauntlet  of  a  chorus  of  personal  remarks,  all  in  high  degree 
complimentary,  as  to  the  style  and  fit  of  his  uniform,  as  well  as  his 
general  appearance.  In  less  than  five  minutes  he  returned,  but  with 
such  chagrin  at  heart  that  it  must  have  been  reflected  in  his  youthful 
face.  Serene  in  the  consciousness  that  he  was  doing  a  perfectly  con 
ventional  and  proper  thing,  he  had  bounded  lightly  up  the  broad 
wooden  steps  and  knocked  at  the  door.  It  was  opened  almost  instantly 
by  the  colored  girl  whom  he  had  seen  the  night  before  and  heard  apos 
trophized  as  "  You  Elinor."  The  eager  expression  in  her  eyes  gave 
way  at  once  to  something  of  disappointment  and  certainly  of  doubt. 

"  I  thought — I  thought  it  was  Mars'r  Potts,  suh,"  she  stammered. 
"  I — I  don't  reckon  the  ladies  can  see  you." 

"  Will  you  say  to  Miss  Walton  that  Mr.  Lambert — Lieutenant 
Lambert,  if  you  choose — has  called  to  inquire  how  Mrs.  Walton  is 
to-day,  and  that,  if  possible,  he  would  6e  glad  to  speak  with  Miss 
Walton  a  moment?" 

Elinor  stood  peering  through  about  one  foot  of  gap,  the  door  she 
had  so  promptly  thrown  wide  open  having  been  as  promptly  closed  to 
that  limit.  Lambert  could  not  but  hear  other  doors  opening  within, — 
could  almost  swear  he  heard  the  swish  of  feminine  skirts,  the  whisper 
of  feminine  voices,  low  and  eager.  The  fact  that  the  girl  stood  there, 
barring  the  entrance  and  apparently  afraid  to  go,  added  to  his  theory 
that  she  was  being  prompted  from  behind. 

"  Ah  dunno,  suh.  Ah'll  see,"  she  said  at  last,  slow  and  irresolute. 
"  Whut,  mum  ?"  she  continued,  involuntarily,  an  instant  later,  turning 
her  turbaned  head  towards  some  invisible  presence  in  the  hall  beyond ; 
and  that  settled  the  matter  in  Lambert's  mind. 

"Ye-assum,"  and  slowly  now  the  yellow-brown  face  returned  to 
light.  "  Mis'  Esther  ain't  very  well,  suh,  an'  she  says — er  rather — 
Mis'  Walton  sends  her  compliments  to  the  gentleman  and  begs  he'll 
'scuse  her.  Dey  don't  need  nuffin',"  she  continued,  in  her  own  inter 
pretation  of  messages  telegraphed  from  the  dark  interior. — "  Ye-assum. 
Mis'  Walton  rested  very  well,  considering  an's  all  right  to-day,  but 
she  don't  want  nuffin',  suh." 

"  I  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  see  Mrs.  Walton,  if  she  were  well 
enough,  or  else  Miss  Walton,"  said  Lambert,  firmly,  intending  that  his 
words  should  be  their  own  interpreter  at  the  court  within.  "  There  are 
matters  of  importance  on  which  I  desired  to  speak." 


68  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

Again  Elinor,  mute  and  irresolute,  turned  to  her  unseen  mentor. 
There  was  evidently  a  moment  of  conference.  Then  the  girl  was 
suddenly  swept  aside,  the  door  was  thrown  wide  open,  and  there,  while 
other  and  younger  forms  seemed  to  scurry  away  from  both  sight  and 
hearing,  there  with  a  gray  shawl  thrown  over  her  shoulders,  calm 
and  dignified,  her  silvery  hair  fluttering  about  her  temples,  and  the 
lines  of  care  seeming  even  deeper  in  the  sad,  clear-cut  face,  stood  Mrs. 
Walton,  leaning  on  the  stout  cane  which  had  dealt  such  trenchant 
blows  the  night  before.  With  a  voice  that  trembled  just  a  trifle 
despite  her  effort  at  control,  she  slowly  spoke : 

"  You  mean  to  be  courteous,  sir,  in  your  inquiry,  and  for  this  I  beg 
to  thank  you, — to  renew  my  thanks  for  your  prompt  service  of  last 
night.  But  now  may  I  say,  once  for  all,  that  we  need,  and  can 
accept,  no  further  assistance,  and,  if  you  are  sincere  in  your  desire  to 
be  courteous,  you  will  not  again  seek  to  enter  my  door?" 

Lambert  flushed  to  his  very  brows. 

"  It  is  a  more  important  matter  than  you  have  perhaps  thought, 
Mrs.  Walton,  that  has  made  me  ask  to  see  you.  One  of  the  men  who 
broke  in  here  last  night " 

"  I  know  what  you  would  say,"  she  promptly,  firmly  interposed, 
again  uplifting,  with  that  almost  imperious  gesture,  the  fragile  white 
hand.  "I  am  framing  a  letter  to  be  delivered  to  your  commander 
upon  his  return  to-night — upon  his  return,"  she  quickly  corrected  her 
self.  "  It  will  cover  the  case  so  far  as  we  are  concerned.  Meantime  I 
beg  to  be  excused  from  further  allusion  to  it."  And  the  stately  incli 
nation  with  which  she  accompanied  the  words  was  unquestionably  a 
dismissal. 

Lambert  stood  speechless  one  instant.  Then,  simply  raising  his 
forage-cap,  he  whirled  about,  and  left. 

The  boy  was  thinking  of  his  own  mother  when  he  tripped  so  lightly 
up  that  worn  old  gravel  path  on  his  way  to  inquire  how  he  could  be  of 
service  to  one  whose  dignity  and  sorrow  and  suffering  had  so  impressed 
him.  He  had  donned  his  best  uniform  for  the  mission,  and  little 
dreamed  how  in  so  doing  he  had  rendered  himself  much  the  more 
persona  non  grata.  He,  who  could  not  war  upon  women  and  children 
under  any  circumstances,  had  not  begun  to  learn  how  bitterly  the 
recent  war  had  borne  upon  the  women  of  the  South,  or  how,  even  so 
long  after,  they  suffered  from  its  effects.  He  had  gone  to  offer  the  aid 
and  protection  of  a  loyal  heart  and  a  strong  arm,  and  had  not  realized 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  69 

that  it  was  the  very  last  succor  a  Walton  would  seek,  so  long  as  both 
heart  and  arm  were  draped  by  the  Union  blue. 

Not  ten  minutes  after  his  return,  discomfited  and  dismayed,  there 
rode  up  the  muddy,  red  bridle-path — for  it  was  little  more — a  broad- 
faced  young  fellow  who  was  attired  in  the  clumsiest  of  "store  clothing" 
and  whose  lean  and  long-necked  steed  looked  dejection  itself  as  his 
vigorous  rider  dismounted,  slung  the  reins  over  the  gate-post,  and, 
after  one  sharp  and  warning  survey  of  the  silent  negroes  still  hovering 
about,  swung  cheerily  up  the  walk.  To  him  the  old  doors  opened 
wide  without  a  summons,  and  eager  hands  were  thrust  forth  in  wel 
come. 

Lambert,  hearing  the  first  heavy  drops  come  thumping  on  his  can 
vas  roof,  thought  it  was  the  rain  that  so  quickly  thinned  the  group  of 
darkies  on  the  road.  He  could  hear  the  mule-hoofs  sputtering  away 
through  the  mud  as  the  rain  came  quicker  and  faster,  but  not  until 
several  hours  later  did  further  explanation  dawn  upon  him.  Then  he 
heard  Burns  and  Watts  in  conversation  at  the  first  sergeant's  tent. 

"Did  you  see  how  the  niggers  kind  o'  lit  out  when  he  came?" 
asked  Burns.  "  I  haven't  seen  him  round  here  since  August.  Reckon 
he  knows  captain's  away.  He  hates  him  like  poison  ever  since  cap 
interfered  in  that  row  he  had  with  Parmelee." 

"Looks  like  a  pleasant  enough  fellow.  I'd  rather  back  him  than 
Parmelee  any  day,  's  far  as  looks  go.  What's  he  doing  here?" 

"  He's  some  kin  to  the  old  lady, — they're  all  related  hereabouts, — 
and  she's  sent  for  him  to  come,  probably,  after  last  night's  row." 

u  But  they're  talking  all  over  the  company  about  Murphy's  yarn, — 
about  there  being  some  relative  there — some  man — last  night.  You 
heard  it  when  he  talked  to  the  lieutenant." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  answered  Burns,  evasively,  "  I  heard  what  he  had  to 
say,  but  Riggs  shut  him  up  short  as  soon  as  he  was  sober  enough  to 
know  what  Murphy  was  saying.  Wait  till  Riggs  tells  his  side  of  the 
story  to  the  lieutenant.  Then  perhaps  we'll  know  what  brought  Mr. 
Barton  Potts  over  here." 

Lambert  was  up  and  at  the  door  of  his  tent  in  a  minute.  "  Did 
you  say  that  Mr.  Barton  Potts  was  at  the  Walton  place  now,  ser 
geant?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  answered  Burns,  whirling  about  in  the  mud  and 
promptly  saluting. 

"  Then  have  some  man  let  me  know  when  he  comes  out.     I  wish 


70  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

to  speak  to  him.     And  if  Riggs  is  sober  enough  now,  send  him  here." 

Presently,  looking  moist,  blear-eyed,  and  dejected,  the  ex-trooper 
and  sergeant  was  marched  up  through  the  pattering  rain,  and,  with  the 
big  drops  trickling  down  from  the  visor  of  his  old  war-pattern  forage 
cap,  stood  sullenly  at  the  tent  of  his  young  commander.  The  guard 
ing  sentry,  after  the  fashion  prevailing  among  some  of  the  regular 
infantry  at  the  time,  allowed  his  rifle  to  topple  forward  from  the 
"  carry"  into  the  grasp  of  the  left  hand,  a  footer  so  in  front  of  the  right 
breast,  and  with  this  well-intended  effort  at  the  "  rifle  salute"  of  the 
'60's,  Private  Mulligan  reported, — 

"  Prisoner  Riggs,  sorr ;  to  spake  to  the  lieutenant." 

It  was  the  first  time  Lambert  had  conducted  an  investigation  of  the 
kind,  and  he  had  no  precedents  to  guide  him. 

"  Riggs,"  said  he,  "  Murphy  tells  me  your  going  to  town  last  night 
was  at  the  instance  of  some  relative  of  Mrs.  Walton's,  who  asked  you 
to  do  them  a  service.  Was  that  true  ?" 

"  It  was,  sir." 

"  Then  he  will  doubtless  be  glad  to  come  forward  and  exonerate 
you,  or  at  least  explain  your  conduct  in  the  early  evening.  Your  later 
conduct  only  a  court-martial  can  properly  consider.  Where  is  this 
gentleman  ?" 

"  I  don't  know,  sir." 

"  What  is  his  name?" 

"  I can't  tell,  sir." 

"  You  know  it,  do  you  not  ?" 

"  I  suppose  I  do,  sir,  but 1  can't  tell  it." 

"  In  the  event  of  your  trial  he  is  the  only  man  who  can  help  you, 
and  the  report  I  have  to  make  of  your  misconduct  is  most  serious. 
Drunkenness  only  aggravates  housebreaking  and  attempted  robbery,  as 
well  as  assault." 

"  I  broke  no  houses,  sir,  and  attempted  no  robbery.  As  for  assault, 
the  lady  herself  will  say  I  meant  no  harm." 

"  But  your  own  comrade  admits  he  found  you  in  the  cellar  entrance 
at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  on  premises  you  were  forbidden  to  enter,  to  all 
appearances  stealing  wine,  and  he  was  striving  to  get  you  away  when 
the  noise  brought  Mrs.  Walton  upon  you.  The  case  is  flagrant." 

Riggs  threw  his  hands  forward  in  a  despairing  gesture,  dropped 
them  again  by  his  side,  and  stood  silent. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  71 

"  Do  you  mean  you  have  nothing  to  say  for  yourself? — that  you 
cannot  disprove  the  charges  ?" 

11 1  have  plenty  to  say  for  myself,  sir,  but  nobody  to  say  anything 
for  me.  The  worst  any  one  can  ever  prove  of  me  is  that  I've  been  a 
drinking  man.  I'm  no  thief;  I'm  no  burglar;  and  I'd  burn  me  hand 
off  before  I'd  lay  it  to  hurt  a  woman,  old  or  young.  I  never  knew 
what  I  was  doing,  if  I  grabbed  the  lady  by  the  throat.  But  I'd  be  a 
worse  man  than  the  lieutenant  thinks  me  if  I'd  do  what  he  asks." 

"  This  is  nonsense,  Riggs.  What  have  I  asked  you  to  do  that  would 
be  either  criminal  or  wrong?" 

"  To  defend  meself  at  the  expense  of  a  friend,  sir,"  said  Riggs, 
with  melodramatic  gravity.  "  I'll  never  betray  the  man  that's  trusted 
me." 

"  Take  him  back  to  the  guard-tent,  sentry,"  said  Lambert,  hardly 
knowing  whether  to  be  amused  or  disgusted.  "  The  man  isn't  sober 
yet." 

And  then  for  the  first  time  the  young  officer  became  aware  of  the 
presence  of  a  horseman  at  the  side  of  his  tent.  With  his  hat-brim 
pulled  down  over  his  eyes  and  the  rain  dripping  from  bit  and  boot  and 
bridle-rein,  there  sat  his  acquaintance  of  the  owl  train, — Mr.  Barton 
Potts. 

"  One  of  your  men  said  you  wished  to  see  me,  lieutenant,"  said  Mr. 
Potts,  with  a  courteous  wave  of  his  hand.  "  I  was  coming  anyhow,  but 
rode  round  from  the  bahn  yawnduh  and  came  in  'long  the  branch. 
Excuse  me  if  I've  stumbled  on  something  I  wasn't  expected  to 
hear." 

"  Certainly,  Mr.  Potts.  Can  you  dismount  and  come  in  ?  I  much 
want  to  talk  with  you." 

"  And  I  want  to  have  a  talk  with  you,  lieutenant, — ve'y  much, — 
and  I'm  coming  for  the  purpose,  but  not  just  now.  There  are  some 
matters  I  must  'tend  to  in  town  for  my  aunt,  Mrs.  Walton,  at  once. 
But  let  me  add  my  thanks  to  hers — and  much  more  than  hers — for 
your  prompt  assistance  last  night.  I  know  that  man  by  sight.  I've 
seen  him  around  here  befoh,  and  it's  Gawd's  mercy  I  wasn't  there  last 
night.  I'd  'a'  shot  him  dead." 

"  You  can  be  sure  he  shall  not  escape  justice,  Mr.  Potts ;  though 
your  aunt  seems  to  refuse  to  see  me  with  regard  to  the  matter." 

"  I'll  explain  all  that  later,  suh,"  said  Potts,  lowering  his  voice. 
"  I've  simply  got  to  go  at  once.  But  I'll  see  you  to-night ;  and  mean- 


72  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

time  let  me  repeat  what  I  said.  You  shan't  lack  for  a  friend  round 
heah,  suh.  You  treated  me  like  a  gentleman  when  I  was  drunk  and 
possibly  offensive, — though  I  hope  not,  suh, — and  you've  behaved  like 
a  gentleman  to  my  people,  and  by  and  by  they'll  see  it.  Just  you  wait. 
By  the  bye,  you  remember  Colonel  Scroggs  ?" 

"  I  don't  think  I  do.  Some  of  that  name  were  among  the  pris 
oners  who  escaped  yesterday,  I'm  told." 

"  Yes,  suh.  The  same  family,  suh ;  Colonel  Scroggs's  brothers. 
I  can't  discuss  them  just  now,  but  if  the  colonel  should  come  here  to 
see  you  before  Captain  Close  gets  back,  if  you'll  take  my  advice,  you'll 
listen  to  him.  He  wants  to  speak  about  that  arrest,  and  square  things ; 
and — well,  I  know  a  gentleman  when  I  see  one,  just  as  I  know  a 
rough — like  that  soldier  you  were  examining.  The  colonel  was  con 
ductor  of  our  train  night  before  last.  Now  I've  got  to  ride  like  hell. 
Good- day,  suh." 

And,  pulling  off  his  hat  and  sticking  spurs  to  his  mud-covered 
steed,  Mr.  Potts  galloped  away  along  the  Tugaloo  road  into  the  gather 
ing  darkness. 

Soon  after  nightfall  the  rain  ceased  and  the  wind  died  away.  For 
the  first  time  since  he  had  turned  in  the  night  before,  Lambert  be 
thought  him  of  the  lantern  he  had  purposed  buying,  even  if  he  had  to 
send  to  Cohen's  on  a  Sunday.  Burns  sent  some  candles  over  from  the 
company  stores,  and  the  young  German  "striker"  set  two  of  them 
alight  in  his  tent,  with  empty  whiskey-bottles — off  which  he  had  defer 
entially  washed  the  labels — as  candlesticks. 

One  thought  led  to  another.  The  proposed  purchase  reminded 
Lambert  that  all  the  money  in  his  possession  was  now  the  twenty-dollar 
bill  borrowed  of  Close,  and  this  reminded  him  that  he  wanted  five 
dollars  in  small  currency, — "  shinplasters,"  as  the  miniature  green 
backs  were  called  at  the  time.  Since  hearing  Murphy's  story  he  better 
understood  the  straits  to  which  his  neighbors  were  reduced,  and  he  had 
determined  that  the  aid  he  had  proffered  in  one  way  should,  despite 
Madam's  high-spirited  rejection,  be  pendered  in  another. 

At  eight  o'clock  he  had  secured  the  amount  he  needed  through 
the  good  offices  of  the  first  sergeant,  and  he  was  wondering  how 
soon  he  might  expect  the  visit  of  Colonel  Scroggs  and  what  could 
be  its  purpose,  when  all  of  a  sudden  the  chatter  at  the  other  end  of 
camp  told  him  of  the  return  of  the  detachment  sent  out  the  previous 
night ;  but  it  was  Sergeant  McBride,  not  his  company  commander,  who 
met  him  at  the  tent-door. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  73 

"The  captain's  compliments,  an'  he'll  be  back  by  an'  by,  sir.  He 
stopped  over  to  have  it  out  with  somebody  that  fooled  him." 

"  Stopped  over  where,  sergeant  ?     Not  alone,  I  hope  ?" 

"  No,  sir  ;  the  sheriff  was  along,  an'  two  others.  They  were  talk 
ing  with  Mr.  Scroggs — or  Colonel  Scroggs — and  a  young  fellow  they 
called  Potts,  who  met  us  across  the  track  on  the  Quitman  road.  The 
captain  said  you  wasn't  to  worry  about  him,  but  we  didn't  get  the  par 
ties  the  sheriff  was  after,  and  the  captain  thinks  he  knows  who  threw 
us  off  the  scent." 

Manifestly  nothing  was  to  be  done  but  await  the  captain's  return, 
and  nine  o'clock  came  without  him.  Lambert  had  determined  to  in 
vestigate  the  butter  market,  however,  and  time  was  not  hanging  heavily 
upon  his  hands  by  any  means.  Throwing  a  light-blue  overcoat,  such 
as  was  worn  by  the  rank  and  file,  over  his  uniform,  he  sallied  forth 
just  after  nine  o'clock,  made  his  way  around  the  camp  until  he  reached 
the  road,  and  followed  it  to  the  gap  among  the  rose-bushes  whence  had 
rolled  the  tin  pail  on  the  previous  night.  All  was  dark  and  still. 
Setting  the  pail  just  within  the  hedge,  he  patiently  waited.  Presently 
voices — feminine  voices — became  faintly  audible.  "  Elinor"  had  evi 
dently  been  pushed  forward  en  reconnaissance,  and,  after  her  recent 
nerve-racking  experiences,  didn't  like  the  detail. 

"  I  tell  yo'  dey  ain'  no  one  'bout,  Mis'  Katie.  I  done  felt  fur  de 
pail,  an'  'tain't  day-h,"  was  her  protest.  At  this  Lambert  saw  fit  to 
give  a  low  whistle,  at  sound  of  which  Elinor,  with  prodigious  rustle  of 
skirts,  bolted  back  towards  the  house,  and  her  unseen  companion,  after 
emphatic  and  scornful  reference  to  "  bawn  cowuds,"  came  hurriedly 
forward,  but  paused  at  discreet  distance. 

"You're  theh,  ah  you?"  was  the  semi-assertive,  semi-interrogative 
remark  in  disdainful  and  truculent  tone.  "  Ah  hope  you've  got  that 
money  at  last." 

For  all  answer  Lambert  reached  in  and  shook  the  pail.  The  com 
bination  of  "  shinplasters"  and  small  coin  within  gave  a  reassuring 
rattle.  Eagerly  the  girl  bounded  to  the  hedge.  He  could  just  discern 
the  slender  little  form  and  the  tumbled  head  of  hair  as  she  dropped  the 
enfolding  shawl  and  stooped  to  take  her  prize, — which  the  unprincipled 
young  man  had  by  this  time  cautiously  withdrawn.  He  could  hear 
her  eager  breathing  and  the  patter  of  her  hands  among  the  rain-laden 
branches. 

"Whuh  on  earth"  (who  on  earth  can  spell  the  word  as  a  real 
D  7 


74  CAPTAIN  CLOSE 

Southern  girl  says  it  ?)  "  did  you  hide  that  pail  ?  Ah've  no  time  fo' 
nawwsense." 

Silence  a  moment. 

"  Look  hyuh,  Mr.  Yankee!  Ah'm  not  accustomed  to  being  made  a 
fool  of,  'n'  Ah  want  that  money.  Ah've  had  to  wait  too  long  already." 

A  sound  as  of  something  shaking  in  a  tin  vessel,  but  farther  away, 
towards  a  broader  gap  in  the  dark  hedge. 

"  Ah'm  not  going  up  thuh.  Ah  told  you  twice  befoh.  You  bring 
that  pail  back  hyuh"  (indignantly).  "  Ah  don't  believe  you've  gawt 
the  money  at  all"  (tentatively).  "  If  you  had,  no  gentleman  would 
keep  me  waiting — when  we  need  it  so  much."  (Symptoms  of  vanishing 
nerve,  and  again  a  tempting  rattle.)  "  Ah  can't  go  there"  (pleadingly 
now).  "  Please  bring  it  hyuh,  Mr.  Riggs.  Brothuh  Floyd  would  be 
fuyious  if  he  knew"  (pause) — "an'  we  had  such  awful  trouble  las'  night, 

— all  on  account  of  some  of  your  rascally Oh  !  whut's  that  new 

lieutenant's  name?"  (Sudden  change  of  theme  and  tone.) 

"  His  name's  Ike,"  was  the  response  in  a  hoarse  whisper  across  the 
dripping  rose-bushes. 

"  Ah  don't  believe  a  wuhd  you  say.     Whut's  his  real  name  ?" 

"  Ask  Mr.  Potts  if  his  name  isn't  Ike ;  and  come  and  get  your 
money." 

"  Ah  don't  have  a  chance  to  ask  Mr.  Potts  anything.  They  don't 
allow  me  in  the  pahlor  when  Mr.  Bahton  Potts  comes.  Ah'm  too  much 
of  a  child  to  be  trusted  with  family  secrets,  it  seems ;  though  Ah'm 
not  too  young  to  find  out  how  much  we  need  money. — Whuh's  that 
pail?" — suddenly  coming  down  to  business  again. 

Lambert  gave  it  a  shake,  this  time  within  reach  of  a  little  hand 
that  darted  in  among  the  bushes  and  firmly  closed  upon  his  own. 

"You  let  go  that  pail !"  was  the  imperious  demand  from  within. 

"  I  can't — till  you  let  go  my  hand,"  from  without. 

"  Ah  don't  want  your  hand.     Ah  want " 

"  I  didn't  offer  it,  but,  since  you  like  it  so  much,  here's  the  other." 
And  through  the  darkness  another  hand,  with  soft  warm  palm  and  long, 
slender  fingers,  closed  in  upon  the  hot  little  paw  straining  and  tugging 
at  the  original  occupant  of  the  handle.  Instantly,  with  indignant  force, 
the  enfolded  member  was  snatched  away,  and  the  stooping  girl  sprang 
to  her  feet,  wild-eyed  and  alarmed. 

"Wh'aA  you?"  she  panted.  "That's  not  Sergeant  Riggs."  A 
window  was  suddenly  raised  back  towards  the  house;  the  mournful 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  75 

toot  of  a  tin  horn  began.  "  Quick !  Ah've  got  to  go.  Roll  that 
pail  through.  Why  didn't  Mr.  Riggs  come?" 

"  He's  detained, — on  duty ;  but  it's  all  right.  Where's  the  butter 
milk?" 

Through  the  trees  behind  the  girl  came  Elinor  at  top  speed  :  one 
could  hear  the  rustle  rods  away.  "  F'  Gawd's  sake,  Mis'  Katie,  come 
quick.  Mis'  Walton's  callin'." 

But  Kate  was  fumbling  for  something  in  her  pocket  and  bending 
forward  to  the  hedge.  The  next  instant,  with  brilliant  flash,  the  glare 
of  a  parlor  match  leaped  out  one  second  on  the  night  and  fell  full  on 
a  laughing,  handsome  young  face  peering  in  from  under  the  visor  of 
an  infantry  forage-cap.  One  second  only,  and  down  went  the  match, 
and  with  stifled  cry  away  bounded  the  youngest  daughter  of  the  house 
hold  of  Walton, — even  the  precious  pail  forgotten. 

Ten  minutes  later  a  horseman  came  galloping  up  the  muddy  road 
and  inquiring  eagerly  for  the  lieutenant.  Lambert  recognized  him  as 
one  of  the  deputies  or  assistants  engaged  in  Saturday's  affair  at  the 
jail.  He  handed  a  folded  paper  to  the  young  officer,  and,  in  low,  ex 
cited  tones,  began  some  explanatory  comments. 

"  Wait,"  said  Lambert.     "  Let  me  read." 

Tearing  open  the  paper,  by  the  dim  light  of  Burns's  lantern  he 
made  out  the  following  : 

"  LIEUTENANT  LAMBERT  : 

"  Post  guard  at  once  around  Walton  place,  so  as  to  prevent  any 
men  from  getting  in  or  out.  Take  half  the  company  if  you  need  it. 
I'll  be  there  in  half  an  hour. 

H  I^T  OflTi* 

"B'vt.  Capt.  Com'd'g." 


XL 

At  ten  o'clock  that  dark  and  gloomy  Sunday  night  Mr.  Lambert 
stood  in  front  of  his  tent,  leaning  on  his  sword  and  listening  in  silence 
to  the  conference  going  on  between  his  commander  and  the  civil  officers 
of  the  law.  Close  had  come  home  in  high  dudgeon,  and  was,  as  usual, 
slow  and  cautious,  but  more  than  usually  reluctant  and  suspicious. 
Fuming  over  the  failure  of  the  mission  on  which  he  had  started  so 


76  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

confidently,  believing  himself  "  tricked  by  the  enemy,"  and  now  offered 
ample  revenge  and  assured  of  success  through  the  information  tendered 
him,  he  nevertheless  faltered.  Lambert,  returning  from  the  round  of 
his  sentries,  was  taken  unawares  by  the  sudden  question, — 

"This  gentleman  says  the  old  lady  knew  just  where  we  had  gone 
and  just  when  we  would  get  back.  What  do  you  think  of  it?" 

"  It's  a  matter  I  know  nothing  about,  sir,"  was  the  answer,  "  ex 
cept  that  she  did  say  she  was  writing  a  letter  to  be  given  you  on  your 
return  this  evening,  and  instantly  corrected  herself  by  saying  on  your 
return." 

"  Yes.  Here's  the  letter,  by  Jove,  and  it's  a  worse  puzzle  than 
before.  And  here's  the  deputy  marshal  back  with  increased  powers, 
new  orders,  search-warrants,  and  God  knows  what  all. — I'm  willing 
enough  to  back  you  in  dealing  with  men,  Mr.  Parmelee,"  said  the 
captain,  turning  again  to  the  eager  civilian,  "but  the  lieutenant  has 
had  these  sentries  posted  forty  minutes  and  there  hasn't  been  a  sound. 
I  don't  want  any  searching  of  a  house  that  holds  nothing  but  women, 
because  you  think  some  of  your  jail-birds  are  there " 

"  I  tell  you,  captain,  there's  no  room  for  doubt.  The  negroes  have 
seen  them.  They  told  Mr.  Jarvis,  here,  and  told  him  the  mules  were 
to  be  there  before  ten  o'clock  to  carry  'em  off  out  of  harm's  way. 
Your  man  Murphy  admits  he  saw  one  last  night, — one  of  the  Scroggses, 
sure,  by  the  description,  and  his  brother  is  with  him  there,  I'll  bet  a 
hat." 

"  I  don't  believe  it,"  sturdily  answered  Close.  "  Only  last  August 
she  turned  Walton  Scroggs  away  from  her  door  with  such  a  tongue- 
lashing  as  /  never  heard ;  an'  that's  saying  a  good  deal.  She  forbade 
his  ever  setting  foot  within  her  gates  again.  I  heard  her;  so  did  half 
the  men  in  this  company." 

"  I  know  all  about  that.  He  has  been  in  love  with  his  cousin,  the 
elder  of  the  Walton  girls,  as  long  as  I  can  remember,  and  because  of 
his  shiftless  habits  the  old  lady  wouldn't  listen  to  it.  Then  they  took 
to  meeting  by  stealth,  and  she  found  it  out.  She  discharged  old  Rasmus 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  he  carried  letters  for  them.  I've  tried  to 
bribe  him  twice  to  tell  where  Wai  Scroggs  was  hiding,  but  the  old 
nigger's  a  dam  fool, — with  a  starving  wife,  too.  They  tell  me  he  was 
seen  round  here  a  day  or  two  since,  asking  for  Riggs,  and  he's  been 
carrying  letters  again.  The  old  lady  wouldn't  have  him  there  before, 
perhaps,  but  she  would  shelter  him  now,  when  the  government  demands 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  77 

his  surrender.  But,  even  if  she  wouldn't,  Esther  "Walton  would.  I 
tell  you  they're  there,  captain,  and  they'll  be  off  and  out  of  our  reach 
this  night  if  you  fail  to  take  them  now." 

Close  was  pulling  on  a  soldier's  overcoat  at  the  moment,  and  stopped 
to  listen  to  some  sound  down  the  dark  recesses  of  the  "  bottom"  along 
the  winding  stream. 

"  It's  the  mules  now  !"  began  Parmelee,  excitedly,  but  Close  held 
up  a  warning  hand. 

"  If  it  is,  my  men  will  nab  'em,  that's  all.  Now  you've  been  the 
means  of  my  takin'  the  men  on  more'n  one  long  wild-goose  chase  afoot 
— that  telegram  of  yours  was  enough  to  give  the  whole  scheme  away — 
and  of  my  bein'  invited  to  be  dam  fool  enough  to  fight  two  duels  this 
afternoon.  Both  Colonel  Scroggs  and  Mr.  Barton  Potts,  by  thunder, 
want  me  to  go  out  and  be  shot  because  I  preferred  to  satisfy  myself 
Mr.  Wai  Scroggs  wasn't  in  the  old  Gibson  place,  'stead  of  takin' 
their  word  of  honor  for  it.  There's  a  sick  lady  there  who  was  scared 
of  Yankee  uniforms ;  but  I'd  rather  search  all  Tugaloo  and  Quitman 
and  hell  together  than  rout  out  old  Mis'  Walton  to-night.  They  can't 
get  out  past  my  sentries.  They're  sure  to  be  nabbed  if  they  try. 
Let  'em  try,  I  say.  It's  the  easiest  way  to  settle  the  whole  business. 
Then  they  can  be  arrested  without  disturbin'  anybody  in  the  house." 

But  Parmelee  was  dissatisfied.  He  had  been  chaffed,  jeered  at, 
maddened  over  the  escape  of  his  prisoners.  Two  of  them — the  worst 
of  the  lot,  so  far  as  he  could  judge — were  here  now,  within  his  grasp, 
if  he  could  but  persuade  Close  to  act.  He  had  still  a  card  to  play, 
and  it  was  a  trump  lead  : 

"  I  did  send  you  a  telegram  steering  you  to  Gibson's,  and  I  did  it 
because  the  marshal  himself  so  directed  ;  for  it  was  he  who  was  sure 
that  was  where  they  had  taken  refuge.  Scroggs  and  his  precious  kins 
man,  Potts,  probably  got  warning  in  time  to  send  their  two  refugees 
away,  and  now  they've  had  the  cheek  to  hide  them  here,  right  under 
your  nose.  Talk  about  the  record  you've  made  as  a  preserver  of  the 
peace  down  here :  how'll  it  read  all  over  the  North  that,  after  being 
released  from  jail  in  the  presence  of  Captain  Close's  company,  the 
worst  of  the  gang — men  under  indictment  for  murderous  assault  on 
United  States  officers  in  discharge  of  their  duties — came  and  took  up 
their  residence  across  the  road  from  Captain  Close's  camp  and  dared 
him  to  take  them  ?  That's  the  way  it  will  read,  by  God,  if  you  don't 
act  to-night." 

7* 


78  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

For  a  moment  Close  simply  stared  at  the  man.  Parrnelee  was  no 
fighter,  man  to  man,  steel  to  steel ;  that  the  war  veteran  knew  well ; 
but  the  Yankee  school-master  of  the  ante  bellum  days  had  learned  to 
use  his  wits  and  tongue.  He  could  argue,  if  he  couldn't  face  a  bullet. 
The  stalwart  soldier  who,  single-handed,  had  captured  a  squad  of  as 
tonished  trench-defenders  before  Vicksburg  and  had  faced  the  blazing 
battle-line  with  dauntless  front  a  score  of  times,  looked  helplessly  a 
moment  into  the  face  of  this  keen  fencer,  then  turned  appealingly  to 
the  young  West  Pointer,  as  though  to  ask,  "  Isn't  there  something  in 
your  education  to  answer  this?"  But  Lambert  was  silent.  From 
first  to  last  the  lesson  taught  him  at  the  National  Academy  was  sub 
ordination  of  the  military  to  the  civil  authority. 

"  Well,  go  ahead.  You're  boss,  I  s'pose.  I  can  only  follow.  What 
d'you  want  me  to  do  ?"  said  Close. 

"  I  want  you  to  search  that  house  and  get  those  men,"  was  Parme- 
lee's  answer. 

And  then  there  was  another  moment  of  oppressive  silence ;  then 
sudden  start  and  alarm. 

Down  the  Tugaloo  road  to  the  south,  at  the  farthest  corner  of 
the  fence  which  surrounded  the  Walton  place,  there  was  a  pathway 
leading  through  the  brush  to  the  level  "  bottom"  below.  Somewhere 
in  this  direction,  but  beyond  the  corner,  only  a  few  seconds  before,  had 
been  heard  a  sound  like  that  of  a  bray  nipped  suddenly  in  the  bud, — 
of  a  mule's  essay  at  vocalism  checked  summarily  with  a  club.  At  this 
point  where  road  and  pathway  came  together  Lambert  had  posted  Pri 
vate  Green,  a  reliable  soldier  of  many  years'  experience,  and  when 
Green  challenged  there  was  reason  for  it.  Low  and  stern  his  voice 
was  heard  distinctly  at  the  listening  camp, — "Who  comes  there?" 
followed  almost  immediately  by  the  sharp  order,  "  Halt !  Halt,  or  I 
fire." 

Waiting  for  no  order,  Lambert  was  off  like  a  dart,  Burns  follow 
ing  with  a  lantern.  Again  came  the  cry  "  Halt !"  but  the  promised 
shot  was  not  heard.  Even  when  running  at  speed  past  the  gate  of  the 
Walton  place,  the  young  officer  could  not  resist  a  quick  glance  at  the 
dark  fapade  of  the  old  homestead.  Already  a  light  was  dancing  along 
the  portico,  another  gleaming  at  an  upper  window. 

"  What's  the  matter,  sentry?"  he  panted,  as  he  came  upon  the  dark 
figure  at  the  turn  of  the  road.  Green,  with  his  rifle  at  "ready,"  was 
[leering  into  the  gap  in  the  tangle  of  shrubbery. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  79 

"  Some  one  was  coming  up  there,  sir,  and  ran  the  instant  I  chal 
lenged.  I  ought  to  have  let  him  get  up  to  me  and  then  halted  him, 
but  I  had  regulations  instead  of  sense  in  my  head,"  said  Green,  a  New- 
Englander  with  a  propensity  for  talk.  "  He's  out  o'  harm's  way " 

But  Lambert  waited  to  hear  no  more.  With  Burns  at  his  heels  he 
sprang  down  the  dim  pathway,  and  had  not  gone  thirty  yards  before 
he  came  upon  some  struggling  objects  crashing  into  the  brush  towards 
the  stream.  "  Halt !"  he  shouted,  and,  while  something  halted,  other 
somethings,  with  muttered  oaths,  went  plunging  on.  He  heard  a 
splash,  hoofs  clattering  over  gravel,  the  lashing  of  a  whip,  and  then  all 
was  still  across  the  dark  open  space  through  which  flowed  the  sluggish 
"branch."  But  here  among  the  bushes  were  two  wondering  quadru 
peds,  one  a  mule  with  broken  bridle-rein,  the  other,  as  Burns's  lantern 
speedily  showed,  a  Cherokee  pony, — both  saddled.  A  corporal  came 
running  to  join  them,  and  in  a  moment  the  beasts  were  led  back  to  the 
road-way,  where  Close  and  Parmelee  by  this  time  stood  ready  to  receive 
them.  One  glance  was  all  the  latter  needed. 

"What  did  I  tell  you,  captain?"  said  he,  in  triumph.  "That  is 
Wai  Scroggs's  own  pony,  and  the  master's  hiding  there  at  the  Walton 
place." 

Ten  minutes  more,  and  a  strange,  solemn  scene  was  being  enacted 
at  the  head  of  the  steps  leading  up  to  that  broad,  vine-covered  old 
porch,  whose  dingy  white  columns  loomed  dim  and  ghostly  in  the  glare 
of  lantern  and  candle.  The  door  was  thrown  wide  open,  and  on  the 
worn  coping-stone,  calm,  dignified,  erect,  even  though  leaning  heavily 
upon  her  cane,  a  lighted  candle  held  high  over  the  shimmering  gray 
of  her  well-poised  head,  her  stately,  slender  form  garbed  in  some  dark 
clinging  robe,  stood  the  mistress  of  the  house,  the  clear-cut,  pallid  face 
standing  forth  against  the  black  background  of  the  hall-way  like  some 
exquisite  cameo,  the  thin,  sensitive  lips  quivering  just  a  trifle  at  the 
drooping  corners  of  her  firmly-set,  almost  colorless  mouth.  In  front 
of  her,  his  brown  head  bared,  his  burly  form  nearly  concealed  in  his 
light-blue  overcoat,  an  almost  pleading  look  in  his  soft  brown  eyes, 
was  Close,  the  hero  of  a  score  of  battles.  On  his  right,  folded  and 
formidable-looking  documents  extended  in  an  unsteady  hand,  also  with 
uncovered  head,  stood  Parmelee,  representing  the  majesty  of  the  law. 
To  the  left  of  the  commander  and  a  pace  retired,  buttoned  to  the  throat 
in  the  uniform  of  his  rank  and  girt  with  sash  and  belt,  stood  young 
Lambert,  obedient  to  orders.  Behind  them,  and  almost  at  the  top 


80  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

of  the  steps,  armed  and  equipped,  a  sergeant  and  two  soldiers  of  the 
guard.  Back,  farther  down  the  steps,  still  others  were  grouped,  the 
fixed  bayonets  gleaming  in  the  light  of  the  two  lamps,  one  held  by  the 
amazed  woman  at  the  threshold;  the  other  swinging  from  the  gloved 
hand  of  the  sergeant  of  the  guard. 

"  What  you  say,  sir,  is  absurd, — impossible.  At  no  time,  under  no 
circumstances,"  Mrs.  Walton  was  saying,  "  could  the  gentleman  you 
name  be  secreted  in  that  room." 

"  Madam,"  replied  Close,  his  deep  voice  trembling,  "  nobody  can 
feel  more  sorry  about  this  than  I  do.  I'd  rather  go  through  the  whole 
war  over  again  than  be  here  on  such  an  errand  to-night,  but — a  soldier 
must  obey  his  orders.  I  saw  him,  madam,  at  that  window.  These 
gentlemen  saw " 

"Gentlemen!  Gentlemen,  sir,  never  could  connive  at  such  an  out 
rage.  That  is  my  daughter's  room, — Miss  Esther  Walton's." 

Dead  silence  for  a  moment,  solemn  and  impressive  indeed,  for  Close 
turned  helplessly  to  the  supporter  on  his  right,  unable  to  face  such 
majesty  of  confidence  and  conviction,  unable  to  say  the  words  that 
could  sound  only  like  insult  intensified.  It  was  Parmelee  whose  sense 
of  duty  rose  superior  to  exalted  sentiment. 

"  Madam,"  he  began,  stepping  forward,  "  these  papers  are  full 
warrant  for  my  action.  I  know  two  men  to  be  secreted  here.  I,  too, 
saw  one  at  that  window,  and  the  law  must  take  its  course." 

"  Stop  !"  she  cried.  "  I  have  said  that  was  my  daughter's  room. 
One  of  your  party,  at  least,  has  the  appearance  of  a  gentleman.  Lieu 
tenant  Lambert,  is  it  possible  that  you — that  any  graduate  of  West 
Point — can  stand  here  and  permit  such  outrage  as  this  ?  Would  you 
allow  your  sister's  room  to  be  searched  for — oh,  my  God !  nothing  we 
have  had  to  bear  was  comparable  to  this.  I  give  you  my  word  of 
honor  no  such  man  is,  or  has  been " 

But  she  got  no  further.  Out  from  the  dark  hall-way,  with  bound 
ing  step,  tall,  slender,  and  athletic,  sprang  a  young  fellow  with  the 
warning  cry,  "  Mother  !  not  another  word." 

She  strove  to  check  him  as  he  pushed  his  impetuous  way  past  her. 
With  a  wail  of  anguish  unspeakable  she  threw  aside  her  cane  and 
seized  him  by  the  arm.  Down  went  the  candle  sputtering  to  the  floor. 
"Floyd — Floyd!  Oh,  my  boy,  what  have  you  done?"  she  moaned, 
and  bowed  her  gray  head  upon  the  broad  young  shoulder. 

And  then,  with  just  a  touch  of  the  melodramatic  in  his  bearing,  the 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  81 

youth  folded  his  arras  and  stood  erect  before  the  astonished  group  of 
officials. 

"  I  reckon,  gentlemen,  I'm  the  man  you  want." 

Close  looked  at  him  in  bewilderment,  then  turned  to  Parmelee, 
whose  face,  whether  through  fear  or  excitement,  was  twitching  ner 
vously,  and  who  stood  staring  blankly  at  the  stranger.  From  the  hall 
way  came  creeping  hurriedly  forth  a  girlish  form,  misery  in  the  stream 
ing  eyes  and  dishevelled  hair,  and  Katherine  Walton  threw  herself  upon 
her  brother's  arm,  sobbing  convulsively.  "  Hush,  Kate,"  he  whis 
pered,  in  almost  stern  reproach.  "  Hush,  child.  Go  back  to  your 
room  ;"  and  though  now  he  enfolded  his  mother  in  the  embrace  of  his 
left  arm,  he  strove  to  free  the  right.  But  Katherine  would  not  go. 

And  still,  though  here  apparently  was  the  sought-for  prisoner,  no 
man  stepped  forward  to  claim  him.  Officers  and  men,  the  nocturnal 
visitors  looked  blankly  at  one  another,  at  the  stricken  group  upon  the 
threshold,  and  were  silent.  Then  with  sudden  gesture,  as  though  he 
could  no  longer  bear  the  strain,  the  young  man  broke  loose  from  Kath- 
erine's  clinging  arms,  and,  gently  unclasping  his  mother's  hands,  once 
again  addressed  himself  to  Close : 

"  I  say,  suh,  I  reckon  you've  come  for  me.  I'm  ready  to  go  with 
you  at  once." 

And  then,  with  wonder  and  relief  in  their  faces,  with  sudden  check 
to  sobs  and  tears,  mother  and  sister  lifted  up  their  heads  and  stared  at 
the  embarrassed  officer.  Lambert  gave  vent  to  an  audible  gasp  of 
delight,  for  Close,  turning  slowly  upon  the  silent  and  astonished  deputy, 
and  with  a  world  of  suppressed  wrath  in  his  deep  tones,  growled 
forth,— 

"  You've  got  no  warrant  for  this  gentleman.  I  never  saw  him 
before  in  my  life,  and  never  heard  of  him  as  being  mixed  up  in  any 
trouble. — This  is  young  Mr.  Walton,  isn't  it?"  he  suddenly  inquired 
of  the  stranger,  over  whose  pale  face  a  look  of  bewilderment  was  creep 
ing,  and  who  for  a  moment  seemed  unable  to  reply.  It  was  Madam 
Walton  who,  with  quivering,  ashen  lips  and  with  hope,  fear,  yearning, 
anguish  in  her  eyes,  found  voice  to  say, — 

"  This  is  my  youngest  son,  suh, — Floyd  Walton." 

"You  say,"  she  continued  tremulously,  "you  have  no  warrant — no 
cause  for  his  arrest.  Then  in  God's  name  go,  and  leave  us  in  peace. 
I  am  not  well ;  and,  on  my  word  of  honor,  no  other  man  is  hidden " 

"  Mother!  Hush!" 
D* 


82  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

A  door  hastily  opened  within, — the  door  leading  to  the  room  to  the 
left  of  the  entrance,  the  room  at  whose  window  Close  and  Parmelee 
could  swear  they  saw  the  dim  figure  of  a  man  peering  forth  as  they 
entered  the  gate.  A  heavy  footfall  resounded  through  the  hall.  A  light 
streamed  forth  from  the  opened  room,  and  a  woman's  wailing,  shud 
dering  cry  followed  the  tall  powerful  form  that  came  striding  to  the 
front.  With  utter  horror  in  her  eyes,  Mrs.  Walton  staggered,  would 
have  fallen,  but  for  the  clasping  arm  of  her  son,  upon  whose  breast  she 
now  leaned,  panting  for  breath  and  glaring  at  the  new-comer,  to  whose 
side  now  sprang  Esther,  her  long  black  hair  streaming  down  the  white 
wrapper  in  which  her  tall  figure  was  enveloped, — Esther,  who  strove 
to  drag  the  stranger  back  from  before  her  mother's  eyes. 

"  You  here  ?  You  f"  was  Mrs.  Walton's  gasping  cry.  "  And  in — 
that  room  ?" 

"  Mother !"  wailed  the  elder  daughter,  throwing  herself  upon  her 
knees  before  the  fainting  form, — "  mother,  listen. — Oh,  make  her  hear 
me,  Floyd ! — Mother,  I  am  Walton's  wife." 

But  the  words  fell  on  senseless  ears.  The  lady  of  Walton  Hall 
slipped  swooning,  till  they  caught  and  bore  her  within  the  open  door 
way. 

"  Well,"  said  Close,  a  moment  later,  "  what  do  you  want  done  with 
your  man, — Walton  Scroggs?  One's  enough  for  this  night,  I  suppose." 

"  One's  enough  for  me,  as  things  have  turned  out.  Now  what  are 
you  going  to  do  with  the  other?" 

"  Leave  him  here,  with  his  mother,  where  he  ought  to  be,  of  course. 
You've  got  no  cause  to  arrest  him." 

"  But  you  have,  anyhow." 

"  I!     What,  I'd  like  to  know  ?" 

"  Because  he  is  a  deserter  from  the  United  States  Army." 


XII. 

The  Christmas  holidays  were  coming  on  at  Walton  Hall,  where, 
sore  stricken,  its  mistress  lay  hovering  between  life  and  death.  Two 
weeks  had  passed  since  the  eventful  night  of  the  arrests,  and,  though  no 
change  had  come  over  the  landscape,  and  days  of  sunshine  were  few 
and  far  between,  some  odd  alterations  had  taken  place  in  and  around 
the  old  homestead.  Of  these  the  most  remarkable  was  the  appearance 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  83 

three  times  a  day  of  a  young  officer  in  Yankee  uniform  at  the  family 
board, — a  young  officer  who  often  prolonged  his  visit  until  late  in  the 
evening.  Mr.  Isaac  Newton  Lambert,  though  occupying  his  tent  in 
camp,  had  become  otherwise  an  inmate  of  the  Walton  establishment, 
for,  unknown  to  the  beloved  invalid,  her  daughters  were  actually 
"  taking  boarders." 

Another  boarder,  who  had  come  and  moved  a  modest  bachelor  kit 
into  one  of  the  up-stairs  rooms  facing  the  east  and  overlooking  the 
little  camp,  was  Mr.  Barton  Potts,  better  known  to  all  the  inmates  as 
"Cousin  Bart."  Indeed,  it  was  due  in  great  measure  to  his  advice  and 
influence  that  Mr.  Lambert  was  admitted.  Impoverished  as  were  the 
Waltons, — in  dire  need,  as  it  turned  out,  now  that  the  resolute  woman 
who  so  many  years  had  managed  the  family  affairs  was  stricken  down, 
— nothing  but  prompt  action  and  the  helping  hands  of  kinsfolk  and 
friends  stood  between  them  and  starvation.  Squire  Potts — "  Old  Man 
Potts,"  as  he  was  generally  called — had  urged  on  Mrs.  Walton  in 
November  the  propriety  of  her  abandoning  the  place  entirely  and 
taking  shelter  for  herself  and  her  daughters  under  his  roof.  Even 
though  in  desperate  need,  she  had  declined, — for  one  reason,  because  that 
would  bring  Esther  and  Walton  Scroggs  together  again  ;  for  another, 
because  she  could  not  bear  to  think  of  the  old  home  becoming  the 
abiding-place  of  all  the  houseless,  shiftless  negroes  in  the  neighborhood. 
She  had  offered  the  house,  garden,  and  cotton-fields  still  remaining  in 
her  hands  to  any  purchaser  at  almost  any  price  ;  but  who  was  there  to 
invest  in  such  unprofitable  estate  at  such  a  time? 

In  the  midst  of  these  cares  and  troubles,  which  she  could  share  with 
her  daughters,  were  others  which  she  could  not.  She  durst  not  let  them 
know  on  how  slender  a  thread  her  life  depended.  That  was  one  secret, 
held  as  yet  by  their  old  family  physician  and  herself  alone,  because  the 
knowledge  of  it  would  bring  such  grief  to  "  the  girls."  There  was 
another,  which  she  prayed  they  might  never  know,  because  its  very 
existence  brought  such  grief  and  shame  to  her :  Floyd,  her  youngest 
son,  her  darling,  who  had  fought  so  bravely  by  his  brother's  side  through 
the  hottest  battles  of  the  war,  had  "  abjured  the  faith  of  his  fathers," 
as  she  bitterly  expressed  it, — had  become  intimate  with  the  Federal  offi 
cers  and  soldiers,  instead  of  sticking  closely  to  reading  law  in  the  office 
of  her  old  friend  Judge  Summers  at  Quitman.  And  then,  worse  than 
all,  she  learned  through  his  own  desperate  letter  that  he  had  enlisted  iu 
the  cavalry.  That  within  a  week  thereafter,  repenting  of  his  u  mad 


84  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

folly/'  he  should  have  deserted  the  service  and  fled  the  country,  was  in 
the  poor  stricken  woman's  eyes  no  crime  whatever.  That  he  should 
have  enlisted,  sworn  to  defend  the  flag  which  was  to  her  the  emblem 
of  insolent  triumph  over  the  fallen  fortunes  of  the  land  she  loved,  the 
only  land  she  ever  knew,  the  once  happy,  sunny  South, — that  was 
infamy. 

Not  until  weeks  after  her  boy  had  taken  the  step  that  made  him  a 
fugitive  from  justice  did  she  learn,  or  begin  to  imagine,  the  chain  of 
circumstances  that  led  to  it  all.  While  occupying  a  desk  in  the  office 
of  Summers  and  Todd,  Attorneys  and  Counsellors-at-Law,  Floyd  also 
occupied  a  seat  at  the  table  of  a  widowed  relative  who,  left  penniless 
at  the  close  of  the  war.  had  to  struggle  hard  to  keep  body  and  soul 
together.  The  efforts  of  Judge  Summers  had  been  sufficient  to  save 
the  house  in  which  she  dwelt,  and  "  taking  boarders"  became  her 
vocation.  But  paying  boarders  were  scarce,  and  even  when  her  table 
was  crowded  with  homeless  people  her  pockets  were  often  empty. 
When  Sweet's  squadron  of  the  — th  U.  S.  Cavalry  marched  into 
town  and  took  station  there,  the  application  of  some  of  the  officers  for 
"rations  and  quarters"  under  her  roof  was  coldly  declined.  They 
went  to  the  hotel,  and  suffered,  as  they  deserved,  the  pangs  of  indiges 
tion.  Later  it  transpired  that  two  of  them  went  to  church,  and  this 
put  an  unlooked-for  factor  into  the  problem  of  how  to  treat  these  con 
quering  but  unpopular  heroes.  The  Reverend  Mr.  Pickett,  of  St. 
Paul's,  might  condone  his  parishioners'  refusal  to  supply  them  with 
bodily  food,  but  it  was  impossible  to  refuse  to  minister  to  their  spiritual 
necessities.  Their  religious  faith  was  identical  with  that  of  his  flock ; 
it  was  in  political  faith  that  they  differed.  One  might  decline  to  sit  at 
meat  with  them,  but  could  hardly  decline  to  sit  with  them  at  worship. 
They  could  be  forbidden  to  eat  with  the  elect,  but  the  elect  would  not 
forbid  them  to  pray.  Even  in  the  sanctuary,  however,  only  hostile  or 
averted  looks  were  vouchsafed  to  Colonel  Sweet  and  Captain  Vinton 
when  first  they  sought  its  doors ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  the 
women  found  that  their  soldiers — their  husbands,  brothers,  or  lovers, 
whom  the  war  had  spared — were  actually  fraternizing  with  the  Yankee 
invaders,  and  that  between  those  who  had  done  hard  and  honest  fighting 
on  either  side  there  was  springing  up  firm  and  honest  friendship.  The 
irreconcilables  were  limited,  apparently,  to  the  non-combatants.  When 
the  squadron  was  ordered  elsewhere  after  a  six  months'  sojourn  at  Quit- 
man,  the  populace  was  astonished  to  find  how  much  the  troopers  were 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  85 

missed  and  really  needed ;  for  even  Yankee  custom  had  been  accept 
able  in  the  stores  and  Yankee  contributions  welcome  in  the  church. 
Business  had  brought  Colonel  Sweet  to  Summers's  office,  and  in  the 
course  of  frequent  visits  cordial  relations  were  established,  and  Floyd 
Walton  could  hardly  treat  with  disdain  a  soldier  and  gentleman 
whom  his  patrons  welcomed,  even  had  he  long  retained  the  disposition 
to  do  so. 

The  command  had  not  been  gone  a  week  before  men  were  unac 
countably  wishing  it  back,  and  when  it  reappeared,  with  certain  addi 
tions,  it  was  actually  welcomed  by  people  who  would  have  scouted  the 
possibility  of  such  a  thing  the  year  before.  This  time  Colonel  Sweet 
announced  to  the  rector  that  his  wife  and  daughter  would  speedily  follow, 
and  were  even  then  in  New  Orleans,  awaiting  his  instructions  to  come. 
The  hotel  was  no  place  for  ladies  in  those  rough  days :  the  rector  went 
to  Mrs.  Tower,  and  Mrs.  Tower  no  longer  resisted  the  inevitable.  Floyd 
Walton,  going  to  tea  one  hot  June  evening,  was  astonished  to  find 
himself  in  the  presence  of  two  ladies,  one  of  them  a  pretty  girl  of 
perhaps  eighteen,  and  to  be  presented  to  Mrs.  and  Miss  Sweet.  Within 
a  week  the  young  fellow  was  spending  his  evenings  at  the  Towers', 
and  within  the  month  was  hopelessly  in  love.  Then  came  trouble. 
He  hadn't  a  cent  in  the  world.  She  was  a  soldier's  daughter,  and 
presumably  poor.  Whether  she  was  poor  or  not,  he,  at  least,  had 
nothing  to  offer,  and,  having  nothing,  held  his  tongue,  though  he  could 
not  hold  his  peace.  That  was  gone. 

That  was  a  wretched  summer  and  autumn.  The  fever  raged  along 
the  Gulf,  and  cholera  swooped  upon  the  garrison.  Sweet  got  his 
wife  and  child  away  to  the  mountains.  They  left  suddenly,  while 
Floyd  was  on  a  brief  visit  to  his  mother  and  sisters.  It  was  December 
when  they  came  back.  Meantime,  Judge  Summers  had  abandoned 
practice  and  gone  to  live  at  his  old  home  at  Sandbrook.  Mr.  Todd 
could  offer  young  Walton  no  help ;  there  was  no  money  in  law  busi 
ness  just  then.  Matters  at  Tugaloo  were  going  from  bad  to  worse, 
and  Walton  found  himself  absolutely  without  money  to  pay  his  board. 
That  made  no  difference  to  Mrs.  Tower.  She  told  him  his  mother's 
boy  was  as  welcome  as  her  own,  and  made  him  welcome  where  fascina 
tion  all  too  strong  already  held  him.  Something  in  Jennie  Sweet's 
gentle  manner  had  changed.  She  was  nervous,  ill  at  ease,  and  sought 
to  avoid  him.  Something  in  her  mother's  manner,  too,  was  very  differ 
ent.  And  one  day  the  truth  came  out.  The  frequency  with  which 


86  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

letters  began  chasing  one  another  from  the  North  explained  the  whole 
thing.  Jenny  had  met  her  fate  that  fatal  summer  among  the  Virginia 
mountains,  and  was  engaged  to  be  married.  Mrs.  Sweet  referred  to 
the  happy  man  as  "a  wealthy  gentleman  from  Philadelphia,  a  few 
years  older  than  Genevieve,  but  a  most  charming  person."  Genevieve 
herself  said  little  or  nothing,  but  looked  none  too  radiant.  Colonel 
Sweet  said  less,  but  looked  much  at  her. 

Then  Floyd  Walton  found  another  boarding-place,  and  one  where 
the  influences  were  worse.  He  threw  up  his  position  in  the  law-office 
and  took  a  humble  clerkship  at  a  store.  It  paid  him  enough  to  board 
and  lodge  him,  and  here,  from  serving  his  customers  with  drink,  he 
got  to  serving  himself,  and  to  associating  with  a  reckless  set,  some 
young  townsmen,  some  soldiers.  There  were  stories  of  gambling  and 
quarrel  even  before  Colonel  Sweet  found  that  Jenny,  the  apple  of  his 
eye,  was  drooping  in  that  Southern  climate,  and  sent  her,  with  her 
mother,  North  "  for  good."  The  next  thing  heard  of  Floyd  Walton 
was  that  he  had  gone  to  New  Orleans  with  a  discharged  soldier ;  and, 
even  while  grieving  over  her  boy's  infrequent  letters  and  evident  hope 
lessness  and  depression,  Mrs.  Walton  received  a  missive  one  day  that 
left  her  prostrate.  She  went  alone  to  Quitman  as  soon  as  able  to 
move,  and  came  back  within  forty-eight  hours  looking  years  older, 
and  both  the  girls  soon  knew  that  she  had  parted  with  the  diamond 
ear-rings  that  were  their  father's  last  gift  to  her  in  the  happy,  prosper 
ous  days  that  preceded  the  war.  Floyd  had  written  that,  starving, 
drunk  or  drugged,  and  desperate,  he  had  been  led  by  his  associate  be 
fore  a  recruiting  officer,  had  been  sent  with  others  as  reckless  as  him 
self  to  sober  up  at  the  quarters  of  a  cavalry  command  near  the  city, 
and  that,  the  next  thing  he  knew,  he  with  a  squad  of  seven  recruits 
was  on  his  way  to  join  a  troop  stationed  within  a  few  miles  of  his 
home,  instead,  as  he  had  been  assured  would  be  the  case,  of  being  sent 
to  the  Fourth  Cavalry  on  frontier  duty  against  the  Indians  in  Texas. 
"  They  broke  their  contract,"  he  said,  "  and  I  broke  mine."  He  had 
deserted,  and,  if  captured,  would  be  sent  to  hard  labor  at  Baton  Rouge 
Penitentiary  or  to  the  Dry  Tortugas. 

Such  stories  leak  out  despite  every  effort  to  conceal  them,  but  not 
until  just  before  Lambert's  coming  to  join  Company  "G"  did  Mrs. 
Walton  dream  that  Esther  knew  of  her  brother's  peril.  A  sudden 
outcry  in  her  garden  one  day  brought  her  in  haste  to  the  spot,  and 
there  were  a  drunken  soldier  and  her  quadroon  maid  Elinor, — he  de- 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  87 

manding  liquor  and  she  the  return  of  a  pitcher  which  he  had  evidently 
snatched  from  her  hand.  Madam  Walton's  stately  presence  and  her 
imperious  order  that  he  leave  the  premises  at  once  only  partially 
sobered  him.  He  gave  her  to  understand  that  if  she  reported  him  he 
could  bring  shame  upon  her  head, — he  knew  more  about  her  aifairs 
than  she  dreamed.  His  insolence  tried  her  temper,  but  could  not  alter 
her  tone  and  bearing.  It  was  not  until  he  was  gone  that  Esther,  trem 
bling  and  in  tears,  came  and  begged  her  to  lodge  no  complaint  against 
the  man,  as  he  indeed  knew  more  than  she  supposed.  And  then,  in 
reply  to  her  mother's  demand,  Esther  brokenly  admitted  that  she  had 
already  heard  of  Floyd's  enlistment  and  desertion  through  this  very 
soldier.  He  had  been  at  the  house  before.  What  she  did  not  tell  her 
mother  was  that  the  news  first  reached  her  through  Walton  Scroggs. 

And  then,  without  warning,  Floyd  suddenly  came  home.  So 
troubled  had  he  been  by  the  condition  of  his  mother's  health  and 
affairs  as  confided  in  Esther's  letters  (sent  under  cover  to  an  old  family 
friend  now  serving  as  a  surgeon  in  the  Juarez  army)  that,  having 
earned  a  little  money  in  Vera  Cruz,  he  hastened  back  and  appeared 
there  late  at  evening,  worn  and  weary,  before  those  loving  yet  terrified 
eyes.  He  had  ridden  miles  on  horseback  that  day,  as  he  feared  recog 
nition  by  officers  or  soldiers  still  at  Quitman  if  he  came  by  rail  that 
way,  or  by  Federal  deputies  if  he  came  the  other.  Esther  alone  had 
received  him  on  his  arrival,  for  she,  poor  girl,  was  watching  at  the 
old  arbor  near  the  south  fence  for  the  coming  of  her  lover-husband, 
that  day  released  from  the  clutches  of  the  law.  Then,  after  hearing 
her  recital  of  their  needs  and  sorrows,  he  had  sent  old  Rasmus  with  a 
message  into  camp,  while  she  had  gone  to  prepare  her  mother  for  his 
coming. 

Late  that  night  Mrs.  Walton,  kneeling  by  the  bedside  of  her  sleep 
ing  boy,  became  suddenly  aware  of  a  scuffle  going  on  underneath  the 
window,  and,  noiselessly  descending  the  stairs,  unfastened  the  side  door 
and  came  at  once  upon  the  intruders,  with  the  result  already  known. 
Not  until  aroused  by  the  screams  of  Elinor  and  his  sister  Kate  did 
Floyd  know  anything  of  the  affair.  Half  asleep,  and  bewildered,  he 
had  jumped  into  boots  and  trousers  and  rushed  to  the  rescue.  One 
glance  explained  the  whole  thing,  but  it  was  Esther  who  in  desperation 
seized  and  held  him  back  when  he  would  have  sprung  to  release  his 
mother  from  Riggs's  drunken  grasp, — Esther  who,  hearing  the  coming 
rush  of  Lambert's  footsteps,  realized  that  what  meant  instant  rescue 


88  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

for  her  mother  meant  equally  instant  peril  for  him, — Esther  who 
actually  ordered  his  hurried  retreat  at  Lambert's  appearance.  Not 
until  the  following  day  did  it  occur  to  her  mother  to  ask  how  it  was 
or  why  it  was  that  she  was  up  and  dressed  at  that  hour  of  the  night. 
At  any  other  time,  perhaps,  she  would  have  found  it  far  more  difficult 
to  frame  plausible  excuse,  but  almost  anything  would  answer  now. 
For  hours  she  had  been  listening  for  the  tap  upon  her  window  that 
should  tell  her  Walton  had  not  been  spirited  away  to  a  place  of  safety 
until  he  had  come  to  bless  and  comfort  her  with  his  love-words  and 
caresses.  To  her,  at  least,  despite  the  wild  oats  of  his  earlier  days, 
her  cousin-husband  was  all  that  was  true  and  tender  and  fond.  For 
him  she  had  dared  her  mother's  wrath,  her  younger  sister's  indignation, 
and  Floyd  alone  was  her  supporter  in  the  secret  marriage  that  took 
place  during  her  brief  visit  to  the  Claytons  in  the  early  spring. 

With  the  dawn  of  Sunday,  his  signal  at  last  was  heard,  and  she 
stole  out  to  meet  him, — to  tell  of  Floyd's  return,  and  to  plan  with  him 
for  their  joint  escape,  for  Floyd  had  told  her  that  it  would  be  folly  to 
attempt  to  remain  in  hiding  there.  Already  certain  negroes  of  the 
neighborhood  had  seen  him,  and  it  could  not  be  long  before  the  mili 
tary  authorities  were  informed.  Walton  was  all  helpfulness  and  sym 
pathy.  His  brother,  the  conductor,  had  planned  to  send  his  horse  to 
the  Walton  barn  at  ten  that  night,  and  "  Wai"  was  to  ride  'cross 
country  to  a  friend's  in  Barksdale  County,  leave  the  horse  there,  and 
be  at  the  point  where  the  railway  crossed  the  county  road  at  eleven- 
thirty,  when  the  "Owl"  would  stop  and  take  him  on  the  baggage-car, 
— unless  some  of  Parmelee's  spies  or  deputies  were  aboard.  There 
would  be  no  trouble  at  the  capital,  where  the  Owl  often  waited  an  hour 
for  the  express.  The  engineer  would  slow  up  just  east  of  town. 
Walton  could  drop  off  in  the  darkness  and  make  his  way  around  to 
the  west  side  by  a  brisk  tramp  of  a  couple  of  miles,  and  there  be  taken 
on  again  about  one-thirty  A.M.  and  jostled  away  to  the  river.  Once 
there,  all  the  sheriff's  posses  in  the  South  couldn't  find  him.  Walton 
promptly  urged  that  Floyd  go  with  him.  Rasmus  was  routed  out 
from  slumber  in  the  barn  and  sent  away  with  messages  for  Colonel 
Scroggs  and  "  Cousin  Bart,"  and  then  the  voice  of  Kate  was  heard, 
calling  for  her  sister.  Instead  of  being  asleep,  as  they  hoped,  Mrs. 
Walton  was  painfully  awake  and  planning  a  diplomatic  letter  to  be 
sent  to  Captain  Close.  For  hours  the  only  refuge  they  could  offer 
Esther's  husband  was  the  cellar,  for  Mrs.  Walton  had  insisted  on  being 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  89 

up  and  dressed  to  meet  Cousin  Bart,  whom  now  she  desired  to  send 
for  and  consult. 

The  letter  which  had  so  bewildered  the  company  commander  was 
brief  enough.  It  bore  neither  date  nor  place,  but  went  straight  to 
business : 

"  Mrs.  Walton  presents  her  compliments  to  the  officer  in  command 
of  the  Federal  troops  here  in  camp,  and  begs  to  say  that  she  finds  upon 
investigation  that  the  two  soldiers  who  visited  her  premises  last  night 
did  so  at  the  request  of  a  member  of  her  household,  who  sought  their 
aid  in  bringing  certain  supplies  from  town  when  her  servants  proved 
too  ungrateful  to  be  relied  upon.  Mrs.  Walton  deeply  regrets  that  the 
soldiers  referred  to  are  now  in  danger  of  further  punishment,  and,  while 
utterly  disapproving  the  action  which  led  to  their  employment  in  vio 
lation  of  her  express  orders,  she  nevertheless  accepts  the  entire  respon 
sibility,  and  begs  that  no  further  steps  may  be  taken  against  them,  as 
she  will  not  only  positively  refuse  to  appear  as  a  witness  in  the  case, 
but  will  prohibit  any  of  her  household  from  so  appearing. 

"  Sunday  morning." 

And  very  possibly  the  lady  of  Walton  Hall  felt  quite  assured  that 
her  mandate  would  overrule  any  subpoana  the  Federal  authority  could 
draft.  One  thing  is  certain,  when  Close  read  it  over  a  second  time  he 
handed  it  to  Lambert,  saying,  "  So  far  as  I'm  concerned,  that  blessed  old 
lady  shan't  have  any  trouble  on  account  of  them  two  scallawags.  She's 
got  too  much  of  her  own.  Unless  you  want  to  make  an  example  of  Riggs, 
you  can  release  him  in  the  morning.  Murphy  ought  to  be  let  off  any 
how." 

But  when  morning  came  it  was  found  that  Riggs  had  released  him 
self.  How  he  managed  to  cut  his  way  out  of  that  guard-tent  without 
disturbing  anybody,  no  one  could  explain.  He  was  gone  at  daybreak, 
leaving  not  a  trace  behind. 


XIII. 

Confined  to  her  bed  and  room  as  was  Madam  Walton,  and  only 
vaguely  alive  to  what  might  be  going  on  in  the  household, — for  there 
were  days  when  she  lay  dull  and  apathetic,  yet  mercifully  spared  from 

8* 


90  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

suffering, — it  was  Esther's  duty  and  fondest  care  to  minister  to  her 
mother's  needs  even  at  a  time  when  her  heart  was  torn  with  anxiety  on 
account  of  her  husband,  now  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  United 
States  marshal  at  the  capital,  and  of  her  brother,  who,  under  the 
orders  of  the  general  in  command  of  the  department,  had  been  sent 
under  guard  to  New  Orleans,  there  to  await  his  trial  by  court-martial 
for  the  crime  of  desertion.  The  visits  of  the  old  family  physician  were 
frequent,  for  the  invalid  had  had  too  much  to  suffer  and  seemed  in 
capable  of  further  struggle.  Floyd  was  twice  permitted  to  visit  his 
mother  during  the  two  days  that  elapsed  before  telegraphic  orders  came 
in  his  case.  She  knew  him,  clung  to  him,  yet  seemed  unable  to  realize 
that  he  was  going  from  her.  She  once  or  twice  asked  if  Judge  Sum 
mers  had  been  heard  from,  for  Cousin  Bart  had  written  full  details  of 
Floyd's  trouble,  and  the  family  united  in  urging  him  to  make  an 
appeal  to  certain  influential  friends  of  the  ante  helium  days,  who  had 
scandalized  the  Wai  tons  by  their  loyalty  to  the  old  flag.  Then  Lam 
bert  wrote  a  letter  which  Close  signed  and  sent  to  department  head 
quarters,  and  the  boy,  remembering  some  kind  words  said  to  him  by  his 
father's  old  friend,  ventured  on  a  personal  letter  to  the  general  himself, 
pleading  Walton's  cause  and  portraying  the  family's  distress.  It  was 
this  letter  that  overcame  Esther's  objection  to  the  advice  of  Mr.  Potts 
to  the  effect  that  they  take  Mr.  Lambert  in  as  a  day  boarder.  And 
within  forty-eight  hours  of  his  initial  appearance  at  their  table  Mrs. 
Scroggs,  as  he  was  the  first  to  address  his  blushing  hostess,  was  more 
than  reconciled  to  the  step. 

But  if  she  was,  Miss  Kate  was  not.  The  wrath  and  indignation 
of  that  young  lady  can  hardly  be  described.  It  was  one  thing,  she 
declared,  for  her  to  sell  eggs  and  butter  to  a  gentleman  who  was  a  friend 
of  Floyd's,  who  told  her  he  despised  his  captain  as  much  as  she  did, 
who  had  enlisted  only  because  he  had  been  promised  immediate  promo 
tion  to  a  captaincy,  and  who  never  would  have  done  so  even  then,  had 
he  known  that  soldiers  could  be  used  to  persecute  the  people  of  the 
South.  He  was  only  waiting  for  his  commission  to  come — or  his  dis 
charge — to  tell  Captain  Close  what  he  thought  of  his  conduct.  It 
was  all  very  well  to  make  friends  with  gentlemen  like  Mr.  Riggs,  who 
had  been  dear  brother  Floyd's  friend  at  Quitman  before  he  fell  in  love 
with  that  horrid  designing  Yankee  girl  who  had  lured  him  on  to 
"  cohtin' "  her  when  she  was  all  the  time  engaged  to  that  rich  rag 
picker — or  whuteveh  he  might  be.  Mr.  Riggs  had  behaved  like  a 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  91 

puhfect  gentleman.  (She  had  forgotten  the  little  bill  he  had  been  run 
ning  up  and  was  so  long  vainly  importuned  to  pay.  She  also  attached 
slight  importance  to  Barton's  statement  that  "  Brother  Floyd  said 
Riggs  was  a  fraud  and  a  liar,  and  responsible  for  much — though  not 
all — of  his  trouble.")  As  between  Mr.  Riggs  and  this  new  Yankee 
lieutenant  who  had  dared  to  disguise  himself  and  seek  to  make  her 
acquaintance,  she  had  but  one  opinion  :  Riggs  was  driven  to  drink  and 
desertion  by  having  had  to  serve  under  such  brutes.  She  declared  she 
would  starve  rather  than  eat  under  the  same  roof  with  Lieutenant 
Lambert,  insisted  on  staying  in  her  mother's  room  and  being  served 
there,  and  was  conspicuous  by  her  absence  from  the  table  for  the  first 
forty-eight  hours  since  Lambert's  admittance,  despite  Esther's  pleading 
and  Barton's  ridicule.  "  You  may  think  it  fine  to  take  money  from 
such  people,  Mrs.  Scroggs,"  she  declared,  with  high  disdain  ;  "  but  you 
never  would,  if  Moh  was  well  enough  to  know  whut  was  going  on." 
(Moh  is  the  only  alphabetical  combination  I  can  think  of  which  even 
approximately  represents  Miss  Katie's  pronunciation  of  the  term  by 
which  she  was  accustomed  to  refer  to  her  mother.)  But  if  Miss  Kate 
were  indignant  before,  she  was  simply  furious  when  her  married  sister 
responded,  with  exasperating  calm, — 

"  And  yet  you  took  Mr.  Lambert's  money  in  payment  for  your 
butter,  Katesie." 

"  Ah  didn't !  How  day-ah  you  say  so,  Esthuh  ?  It  was  Mr. 
Riggs's." 

"  Floyd  says  it  wasn't.  Floyd  says  that  man  had  not  had  a  cent 
for  three  weeks.  You  know  yourself  it  was  Mr.  Lambert  there  at  the 
fence  both  nights,  and  you  know  why  that  wretch  couldn't  have  been 
there." 

"  Ah'll  wuhk  every  finguh  to  the  bone,  then,  till  it's  paid  back," 
cried  Miss  Walton.  "  An'  it  was  mean  an'  contemptible  an'  cowuhdly 
in  him  to  fawce  it  on  me  as  he  did, — to  listen  to  whut  wasn't  meant  fo' 
his  yuhs  at  all."  By  his  "yuhs"  Miss  Walton  meant  those  organs  of 
hearing  that  lay  so  close  under  the  brown  curls  on  either  side  of  Mr. 
Lambert's  shapely  head, — ears  which  she  could  gladly  have  pinched,  or 
tweaked,  or  even  banged,  in  her  wrath  at  that  moment.  The  hard- 
earned,  long-expected  five  dollars  had  been  sent  to  town  and  expended 
before  this  sisterly  conference  took  place,  or  beyond  doubt  Miss  Katesie 
would  have  hurled  it  back  at  the  donor  when  he  came  so  springily  up 
the  walk  that  crisp  December  evening. 


92  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

Two  days  later  brought  a  long  letter  from  Floyd,  written  from  the 
barracks  at  New  Orleans.  He  was  not  confined  in  the  guard-house,  as 
he  had  feared  and  expected  to  be.  The  prisoners  awaiting  sentence 
were  there,  but  those  yet  to  be  tried  were  kept  in  an  old  storehouse  that 
was  not  uncomfortable,  and  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival  an  officer, 
Lieutenant  Waring  of  the  artillery,  took  him  into  a  separate  room, 
"  treated  me  like  a  perfect  gentleman,"  wrote  poor  Floyd,  leaving  his 
readers  to  divine  whether  this  lavish  descriptive  were  to  apply  to  the 
lieutenant  or  himself,  listened  to  Floyd's  story  from  beginning  to  end, 
and  told  him  to  keep  up  his  spirits.  "  Lieutenant  Lambert  had  written 
urging  him  to  do  all  he  could  to  help  me,  and  had  asked  old  General 
Ducannon  to  restore  me  to  duty  without  trial,  in  view  of  the  way  I  had 
been  tricked.  If  he  does,  and  will  send  me  out  against  those  infernal 
Indians  in  Texas,  by  heaven  I'll  show  them  I  can  fight  as  hard  for  the 
flag  to-day  as  I  did  against  it  three  and  four  years  ago.  All  I  ask  is 
officers  and  gentlemen  like  him — or  young  Lambert — to  serve  under, 
and  I'll  earn  my  pardon." 

They  had  been  utterly  blue  and  hopeless  on  Floyd's  account  since 
his  transfer  to  New  Orleans,  and  this  letter  was  a  revelation.  Esther 
took  it  up  to  her  mother's  room  and  strove  to  make  her  understand  its 
purport,  "  Katesie"  sitting  silently  and,  at  first,  scornfully  by.  Mrs. 
Walton's  faculties  seemed  too  dazed  to  follow,  and  Esther  had  to  reit 
erate  and  explain.  Then  the  doctor  came,  and  the  hale  old  gentleman's 
eyes  filled  as  he  read.  "  That  young  fellow  is  a  trump,"  said  he,  refer 
ring  to  Lambert ;  and  he,  too,  bent  over  the  gentle  invalid  and  whis 
pered  hope  and  courage.  Later,  when  Kate  was  wanted,  it  was  found 
she  had  quitted  the  room.  Esther  discovered  her  after  considerable 
search,  shivering  in  a  room  up-stairs.  She  wouldn't  talk,  but,  that 
evening,  came  to  tea. 

For  several  days  Miss  Kate  contrived  to  hold  aloof  from  the  gen 
eral  conversation  ;  but  it  was  a  hard  fight  against  every  natural  impulse. 
Before  the  end  of  the  week  her  resolution  had  failed  her  utterly,  and 
time  and  again  her  ready  tongue  had  challenged  Lambert  to  debate ; 
and  now,  to  her  chagrin,  it  was  he  who  declined.  When  formally  pre 
sented  to  "  My  sister,  Miss  Walton,"  by  Mrs.  Scroggs,  the  young  gen 
tleman  had  bowed  very  low  and  had  striven  to  be  civil.  As  they  sat 
facing  each  other,  and  only  the  width  of  the  table  apart,  her  downcast 
eyes  and  determined  silence  proved  embarrassing,  even  though  long, 
curving,  sweeping  lashes  and  flushed  cheeks  appeared,  perhaps,  to  dan- 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  93 

gerous  advantage.  "  Aw  pshaw  !"  said  Cousin  Bart  that  evening,  as 
he  and  Lambert  were  smoking  the  pipe  of  peace,  and  the  young  fellow 
ventured  a  fear  that  he  had  offended  the  damsel  in  the  butter  business, 
"just  you  pay  no  attention  to  that  child  for  a  day  or  two,  an'  see  how 
quick  she'll  come  round.  She  just  wants  to  be  huffy.  She'll  be  haw- 
bly  cut  up  when  she  finds  you  don't  notice  her."  Potts  had  not  a  little 
worldly  wisdom  when  he  wasn't  drinking,  and  since  his  installation  as 
ex-officio  head  of  the  house  he  hadn't  touched  a  drop.  Lambert  was 
beginning  to  like  him  very  much,  but  couldn't  induce  him  to  come 
over  to  camp.  "  I  can't  stand  that  captain  of  yours,"  was  his  sole 
explanation. 

From  frigid  silence  on  Katesie's  part  to  occasional  monosyllable 
and  thence  to  brief  and  caustic  comments  on  the  remarks  of  her  sister 
and  cousin,  the  transition  was  easy ;  but  now  that  Lambert  addressed 
no  remarks  whatever  to  her,  yet  chatted  smilingly  with  the  others,  the 
girl's  position  became  exasperating.  She  was  willing  enough,  at  the 
start,  to  keep  at  wide  distance,  but  that  anybody  should  presume  to 
hold  her  there  was  a  very  different  matter,  in  fact,  simply  intolerable. 
Esther  noted  in  silent  amusement  how  the  girl  began  to  display  unac 
customed  solicitude  as  to  the  fit  of  her  gown,  the  effect  of  such  poor 
little  efforts  at  ornamentation  as  her  simple  store  of  lace  or  ribbon 
afforded.  Such  quaint,  old-fashioned  bows  and  flounces  as  came  forth, 
such  queer  combinations  of  shade  and  color  !  Esther  caught  her  more 
than  once  glancing  up  shyly  from  under  the  long  lashes  and  looking 
furtively  at  her  vis-cL-vis,  for  Lambert,  with  malice  prepense  and  afore 
thought,  began  telling  Mrs.  Scroggs  of  the  belles  and  beauties  of  last 
summer  at  the  Point,  and  one  evening  when  the  verbal  blockade  had 
lasted  perhaps  three  days  he  turned  to  Esther  as  they  were  rising  from 
the  table, — and  if  it  wasn't  taking  a  mean  advantage  of  a  defenceless 
foe,  what  would  be? 

"  I  brought  over  these  two  to  show  you,  Mrs.  Scroggs,"  said  he, 
producing  some  carte-de-visite  photographs  from  an  envelope.  "This 
is  Miss  Fordham,  who  was  considered  the  prettiest  girl  at  Cozzens's  this 
year,  though  that  fashionable  street  suit  is  perhaps  less  becoming  to 
her  than  evening  dress.  And  this  is  Miss  Torrance.  I  think  I  told 
you  that  our  ladies  are  no  longer  wearing  crinoline,  and  that  these 
short  dresses  are  worn  even  for  calling  in  the  daytime." 

And  Katie  Walton  was  halted  at  the  threshold  as  she  would  have 
left  the  room.  What  woman  could  resist  a  peep  at  these  pictures  of 


94  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

reigning  belles  garbed  in  the  height  of  the  fashion  of  the  day, — a 
fashion  these  fair  Southern  sisters  had  never  seen,  and  had  only  vaguely 
heard  of!  Cousin  Bart  could  have  laughed  outright  when  he  caught 
a  glimpse  of  Katesie's  face,  but  mercifully  refrained.  She  flushed, 
stopped,  bit  her  lip,  turned  and  fairly  ran  up-stairs,  but  came  down 
five  minutes  later,  as  Lambert  knew  she  would,  "  looking  for  a  book ;" 
and  Esther,  yearning  over  her,  called  her  sister  to  her  side.  Looking 
at  Northern  girls'  pictures  wasn't  making  friends  with  their  friends, 
anyhow  !  "  Ah  don't  see  anything  pretty  in  that  one/'  was  Katesie's 
prompt  comment.  "  And  Ah  couldn't  be  hi-uhd  to  weah  a  gown  like 
that."  But  Lambert  felt  that  he  had  won  the  day,  and  the  next  even 
ing  fetched  over  a  whole  album-full.  "  Ce  n'est  que  le  premier  pas" 
etc.  Miss  Walton,  having  looked  at  two,  concluded  she  might  as  well 
see  the  others,  but  she  never  meant  to  ask  questions  about  them — as 
she  had  to  when  Esther  went  in  to  see  what  Moh  would  like  for  her 
tea.  Cousin  Bart  had  brought  in  a  bag  of  plump  and  tempting  "  par 
tridges"  that  evening,  and  it  was  beginning  to  puzzle  Esther  very  much, 
when  she  remembered  how  impecunious  a  person  Bart  had  ever  been, 
to  account  for  the  supplies  which  he  began  to  fetch  from  town. 

And  so  things  were  going  a  trifle  better  at  the  old  homestead  towards 
the  end  of  December.  Hopeful  letters  came  from  Walton.  The  Par- 
melee  party  were  having  difficulty  in  getting  reliable  evidence  against 
him ;  his  friends  were  making  him  entirely  comfortable  in  his  confine 
ment,  and  his  lawyer  assured  him  that  his  release  would  be  effected  in 
a  very  few  days.  Floyd  wrote  that  an  aide-de-camp  of  the  general 
commanding  had  come  with  Lieutenant  Waring  to  see  him,  and  to  say 
that  his  case  was  being  investigated  and  that,  as  yet,  no  charges  had 
been  preferred  by  the  commander  of  his  troop.  Little  delicacies  and 
luxuries  in  the  way  of  tea,  jellies,  preserves,  and  wine — things  to  which 
they  had  been  strangers  since  early  in  the  war — were  finding  their  way 
in  and  greatly  comforting  the  invalid  mother,  and,  could  their  doctor 
but  say  the  dear  lady  was  really  mending,  the  girls  would  have  had 
hope  and  courage,  but  the  doctor  could  not  say. 

"  I've  got  to  go  to  Quitman  for  two  days  on  business,  Esther," 
said  Cousin  Bart  one  keen  morning,  "  and  I  reckon  I'll  ask  Dr.  Fal 
coner  to  come  back  with  me,  'f  you  don't  mind,  and  have  a  day  at  the 
birds.  They'll  all  be  gone  in  a  week  'f  this  weather  keeps  on." 

"You  have  deeper  reason  than  that,  Barton.  I  saw  you  with  Dr. 
Coleman  when  he  went  out  last  night.  It's  a  consultation,  is  it  not  ?" 


v  CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  95 

"  Why,  of  co'se  I  want  Coleman  to  have  a  chance  to  talk  it  over 
with  Falconer,  and  he'd  like  it,  too.  Falconer's  more  up  to  date,  the 
old  man  says,  and  he  thinks  perhaps  the  new  school  knows  something 
wuth  tryin'.  You  see,  Cousin  Lou  ain't  pickin'  up  fast  as  she  ought  to." 

"  I  see  it  all  too  plainly,  Bart.  What  I  don't  see  is  where  all  the 
money  is  to  come  from  to  pay  for  doctors  and  consultations  and — 

and "  Big  tears  began  welling  in  her  soft,  sad  eyes.  "  Bart, 

where  does  it  all  come  from  now  ?  How  do  we  get  all  these  dainties  ? 
You  can't  spare  it.  It  mustn't  be  Mr.  Lambert's " 

"Now  just  don't  you  bother  'bout  that,  Esther.  I  made  a  raise,  I 
tell  you.  There's  old  Uncle  Pete  and  that  no-'count  nigger  Frank  been 
owin'  your  mother  on  last  year's  crawp  o'  cawt'n  all  this  time.  I  made 
them  pony  up,  an'  I  told  Hicks  I'd  sell  out  his  mule  an'  cart  'f  he 
didn't  pay, — made  him  bawwo  the  money " 

"  That  wouldn't  begin  to  cover  the  cost  of  what  you've  been  having 
sent  up  from  New  Orleans, — the  expressage  even " 

"  Now  just  don't  you  bawwo  trouble."  (One  r  in  a  sentence  wasn't 
too  much  for  Potts.  When  they  doubled  up  on  him  he  confessed 
judgment.)  "Lambert  'tends  to  all  that.  Uncle  Sam,  he  says, 
pays  freight  on  commissary  stores.  Just  do's  I  say,  and  we'll  fetch 
Cousin  Lou  round  all  right  yet,  and  find  somebody  to  rent  the  old 
place  and  send  yo'  all  down  to  Biloxi  for  the  winter.  But  I'll  tell 
you  what  I  do  think,  Esther :  y'ought  to  have  Lambert  over  to  sleep 
in  my  room  while  I'm  gone.  He'll  come." 

But  when  Lambert  came  to  tea  that  night  half  expecting  to  be  wel 
comed  to  Cousin  Bart's  place  in  his  absence,  a  surprise  awaited  him. 
Esther,  with  joy  in  her  eyes,  blushingly  told  him  that  her  husband 
would  be  with  them  before  nine  o'clock.  A  telegram  had  announced  his 
release  and  speedy  coming. 

"  There's  no  train  over  before  morning,  is  there  ?"  he  asked. 

"  No — but — Mr.  Scroggs  took  the  stage  at  noon  for  Vernon,  up 
north  of  here,  and  will  get  a  horse  there." 

And,  as  it  was  evident  that  she  looked  any  moment  for  that  longed- 
for  coming,  Lambert  decided  to  slip  back  to  camp  instead  of  spending 
an  hour  in  chat  or  reading  as  he  usually  did.  At  this  Miss  Katesie's 
big  blue-gray  eyes  were  opened  wide  in  surprise,  then  lowered  in  con 
fusion,  for  he  turned  to  look  at  her. 

"  Oh  !  Good-night,  Miss  Walton,"  he  laughingly  exclaimed.  "  I 
had  almost  hoped  you  would  ask  me  to  stay." 


96  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"  Ah  don't  know  wh'a  Ah  should,"  was  the  prompt  and  pouting 
reply.  "  Sister  Esthuh  can  if  she  likes." 

"She  doesn't  like,  to-night — as  a  matter  of  course.  I  couldn't  ex 
pect  her  to.  But  as  your  good  mother  is  sleeping  and  Mrs.  Scroggs 
will  be  able  to  leave  her  to  welcome  her  husband  and  you  will  be — well 
— rather  superfluous,  I  thought  I  might  profit  by  the  situation  to  the 
extent  of  having  an  hour's  chat  with  you, — about  your  fair  compatriots 
up  North,  for  example." 

"  Ah  don't  know  of  any  subject  that  would  interest  me  less.  And 
they're  not  my  compatriots,  as  you  call  them,"  answered  Miss  Kate, 
with  fire  in  her  eyes. 

"Ah,  true,"  said  Lambert,  with  provoking  coolness,  and  a  mis 
chievous  smile  twitching  the  corners  of  his  mouth  :  "  I  recall  your  in 
difference  to  their  photographs  the  other  evening.  Will  you  kindly 
say  good-night  to  Mrs.  Scroggs  for  me,  and  tell  her " 

"  Ah'll  tell  her  you  were  simply  hateful  and  Ah  thought  you'd  never 
go!" 

"  Well,  I  won't,  if  you  think  I  ought  to  stay,"  said  Lambert,  re 
turning  smilingly  to  the  door  and  proceeding  to  hang  his  forage-cap 
upon  its  accustomed  peg.  She  promptly  snatched  it  from  his  hand. 

"Ah  wish  you  and  your  photographs  wuh  freezing  up  Nawth, 
whuh  you  b'long,  'stead  of  coming  down  hyuh  ty'annizing  over  peo- 
pie- 

"  Now  do  you  know  I  was  wishing  that  too  ?  It's  so  much  nicer 
freezing  up  North  than  being  frozen  here  ;  and  then  next  week's  Christ 
mas.  Oh,  you  don't  have  any  mistletoe  here,  do  you  ?" 

"  We  did,  before  you  all  came.  You  Yankees  ruined  everything 
nice  you  didn't  carry  off." 

"  Now  what  am  I  to  say,  Miss  Katesie?  If  I  don't  say  you're 
nice  you'll  think  I'm  ungallant;  and  what  Yankee  would  ever  dare 
try  to  carry  you  off?" 

"  Lieutenant  Lambert,  Ah  think  you're  simply  horrid,  and  Ah  wish 
you'd  go,  'stead  of  standing  there  pulling  your  moustache  in  that  silly 
way." 

"  Now,  Miss  Katesie  ! — the  idea  of  your  being  the  first  girl  to  set 
her  face  against  this  struggling  moustache !  I  never  should  have 
thought  it  of  you.  Or  was  it  the  mistletoe  put  you  in  mind " 

"  Will  you  go  ?"  she  cried,  with  flaming  cheeks  and  stamping  foot. 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  97 

"How  day-uh  you  stand  there  laughing  at  me?  Oh,  if  I  were  a 
man " 

"  If  you  were  a  man  nobody  would  think  of  such  a  thing.  As  I'm 
one,  I  can't  help  it." 

"  Ah  wish  Ah  could  help  you  down  those  steps  and  back  to  camp," 
she  retorted,  trying  hard  to  look  furious. 

"You  could,  easily,  but  you  don't  want  to,  or  you  would  have 
given  me  my  cap  long  ago." 

"  Oh!"  and  the  jaunty  kepi  went  spinning  into  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  and  the  little  lady  stamped  in  fury  at  her  own  blunder.  "  Take 
your  cap,  and  go." 

"  We-11,"  said  Lambert,  with  provoking  coolness,  "  if  I'm  to  follow 
my  cap  it  hasn't  gone  towards  camp  at  all.  It  seems — excuse  me 
if  I  come  back  for  a  light — it  seems  to  have  dropped  close  to  that  old 
arbor  of  yours  among  the  rose-bushes,  where  you  sit  in  the  summer 
moonlit  evenings.  Suppose  we  leave  it  as  an  excuse  for  me  to  drop 
around  next  time  you  go  there." 

But  now  she  seized  a  candle  and  went  bounding  down  the  steps. 
A  moment's  search  among  the  bushes,  and  she  had  found  it, — also 
him,  for  he  calmly  followed. 

"  There's  your  cap,"  she  said,  "  and  yawuduh's  the  gate !" 

He  looked  up  in  aifected  pain  and  astonishment. 

"  Why,  Miss  Katesie  ! — I  supposed  you  were  simply  acting  on  my 
suggestion,  and  we  were  going  to  have  such  a  lovely  time  at  the  bower. 
That's  why  I  followed." 

"  Oh,  Ah  should  like  to  tay-uh  your  tongue  out.  You  know  Ah 
hate  the  very  ground  you  stand  on " 

The  gloom  in  his  face  gave  way  instantly  to  radiant  joy.  "  You 
do  ? — really  f"  he  cried.  "  Oh,  I  never  hoped  for  that !  I  thought  you 
loved  every  inch  of  this  ugly  old  State  and  that  I  never  could  coax  you 
to  leave  it.  Do  you  really  hate  it  so  ?" 

But  now,  fairly  beside  herself  with  vexation,  the  girl  had  turned 
and  fled,  her  little  feet  seeming  to  fly  up  the  worn  old  steps  that  groaned 
and  creaked  under  any  other  touch.  He  stood  gazing  after  her  a  mo 
ment,  the  teasing,  merry  smile  still  hovering  about  his  lips,  then 
picked  up  the  cap  she  had  hurled  to  earth,  and  walked  blithely  away. 

Not  ten  yards  from  the  gate  came  Corporal  Cunningham  on  the 
run.  Captain  Close  desired  to  see  the  lieutenant  at  once.  A  negro 
stood  by  the  camp-tire  in  front  of  Close's  tent,  trembling  from  either 
E  9 


98  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

fear  or  excitement  or  both,  his  protruding  eyes  fixed  on  the  form  of 
old  Rasmus,  who  was  eagerly  jabbering  to  the  company  commander. 

"Do  you  know  anything  'bout  this,  lieutenant?"  asked  Close. 
"  These  darkies  say  there's  been  a  big  row  over  towards  Vernon,  and 
that  Walton  Scroggs  is  among  the  killed." 


XIV. 

The  first  Christmas  a  young  fellow  spends  in  the  army  is  one  he 
is  apt  to  remember.  What  he  did  in  years  before,  or  of  what  nature 
were  the  festivities  in  those  that  followed,  may,  in  course  of  time,  be 
come  but  vague  and  shadowy  pictures  before  the  mind's  eye.  After 
something  like  twenty  years  of  service  as  a  commissioned  officer  Mr. 
Lambert  was  heard  to  say  that  never,  even  when  a  homesick  plebe  at 
West  Point,  had  he  passed  so  forlorn  a  Christmastide  as  that  which 
immediately  succeeded  his  graduation. 

The  rain  was  beating  down  in  sullen  shower  upon  the  bare  and 
dripping  woods  and  sodden  fields ;  the  roads  were  deep  in  mud  ;  camp, 
of  which  he  was  once  more  commander,  was  wet  and  cold  and  cheer 
less  ;  in  the  adjoining  tent  lay  his  senior  officer  groaning  on  a  bed  of 
pain,  hands  and  face  blistered  and  bandaged,  hair  and  eyebrows  gone, 
while  over  across  the  way  a  pile  of  scorched  and  blackened  timbers, 
a  couple  of  brick  chimneys,  and  the  stone  foundations,  were  all  that 
was  left  of  Walton  Hall. 

The  story  brought  in  of  the  big  row  at  Vernon,  though  exaggerated, 
had  been  sufficiently  confirmed  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or  so  that 
wintry  evening  of  Lambert's  last  visit  to  the  homestead,  to  warrant 
his  being  ordered  thither  with  half  the  company  to  "  support  the  civil 
authorities  in  restoring  peace."  Close  reported  the  situation  by  tele 
graph  to  department  head-quarters,  and  the  action  taken  by  him,  his 
despatch  reaching  the  general  commanding  the  next  day  an  hour  or  so 
after  that  official  had  been  ordered  from  Washington  to  send  full  par 
ticulars  of  the  disturbance  in  his  bailiwick,  for  the  Federal  officials  in 
the  South  and  the  partisans  of  both  sides  of  the  political  questions  at 
issue  had  worked  the  night  wires  for  all  they  were  worth,  and  the  early 
morning  papers  were  lurid  with  details  of  the  tragic  outbreak. 

It  was  midnight  when  Lambert  started  on  his  march  with  two  ex 
cited  deputy  marshals  for  guides.  Five  miles  out  they  met  some  horse- 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  99 

men  convoying  an  old  carriage  containing  Walton  Scroggs,  seriously 
wounded,  and  a  doctor.  With  the  escort  Lambert  held  brief  parley, 
also  with  the  wounded  man,  who,  though  weak,  was  full  of  pluck  and 
spirits ;  his  sole  anxiety  seemed  to  be  on  the  score  of  his  wife  and  the 
shock  the  news  would  cause  her.  The  account  given  the  young  officer 
of  the  circumstances  leading  up  to  the  fracas  differed  radically  from 
that  with  which  he  and  his  commander  had  thus  far  been  favored. 
This  was  to  be  expected,  as,  up  to  this  point,  their  sole  informants 
were  either  negroes  or  a  couple  of  whites  of  the  Parmelee  stamp.  In 
the  North,  as  a  rule,  the  affair  appeared  to  have  been  a  wanton  and 
unprovoked  attack  by  Walton  Scroggs  and  his  friends  upon  some 
negroes  who  had  been  instrumental  in  securing  his  arrest, — nothing 
short,  in  fact,  of  a  red-handed  act  of  vengeance,  as  was  evident  from 
the  fact  that  immediately  on  his  release  he  and  his  party,  armed  to  the 
teeth,  had  ridden  over  to  Vernon,  instead  of  going  home,  and,  with 
out  warning  or  warrant,  had  begun  the  indiscriminate  shooting  down 
of  certain  unpopular  whites  and  their  luckless  negro  supporters. 

In  the  South,  except  among  certain  journals  published  in  the  in 
terest  of  the  "  radical"  Republican  party,  the  other  side  of  the  story 
was  promptly  circulated.  "  Captain"  Scroggs  and  a  friend,  endeavor 
ing  to  reach  home  by  a  circuitous  route  so  as  to  avoid  trouble  after  his 
release  from  jail,  where  he  had  been  incarcerated  several  weeks  on 
baseless,  trumped-up  charges,  were  set  upon  in  the  streets  of  Vernon 
by  a  blackguardly  pack  of  loafers,  insulted,  abused,  and  assaulted,  and 
finally  compelled  in  self-defence  to  draw  their  revolvers,  not,  however, 
until  they  had  been  fired  upon.  One  odd  circumstance  connected  with 
these  perennial  shooting  scrapes  in  those  days  was  the  fact  that  in  foot 
ing  up  the  score  it  was  always  found  that  five  negroes  to  one  white 
was  about  the  proportion  of  casualties.  This  may  have  been  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  ratio  of  black  to  white  in  every  scrimmage  was  about 
five  to  one,  or  else  that  the  Caucasian,  being  cooler  and  long  skilled  in 
the  use  of  arms,  was  more  effective  in  close  combat.  At  all  events, 
when  impartially  investigated,  it  was  found  that  this  Vernon  difficulty 
differed  from  its  fellows  in  no  important  particular  except  one, — that 
it  "  had  no  political  significance  whatever."  Walton's  friends,  rejoicing 
with  him  in  his  release  from  durance  vile,  did  so  after  the  fashion  of 
the  day,  and  more  or  less  bad  whiskey  was  consumed  before  the  stage 
reached  Vernon, — where  more  friends  were  met,  more  treats  exchanged, 
and  where,  as  the  devil  of  mischief  would  have  it,  he  happened  into 


100  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

the  bar  of  the  old  tavern  just  at  the  moment  when  two  or  three  others, 
all  white,  were  happening  out.  One  of  these  was  an  old-time  admirer 
of  Esther  Walton,  a  man  with  whom  Scroggs  had  been  at  odds  for 
years.  There  was  a  jostle, — unintentional, — a  sneer  in  the  careless 
apology,  and  a  rankling  word  or  two.  Peacemakers  drew  the  princi 
pals  apart.  Indeed,  Walton  was  too  happy,  too  eager  to  continue  his 
journey  home  and  Estherwards,  to  care  to  quarrel.  But  his  rival's 
heart  and  brain  were  burning;  and  more  liquor  made  matters  worse.  The 
horses  were  being  brought  around  from  the  stable  with  the  troop  of 
vagrant  negroes  loafing  after,  when,  despite  the  efforts  of  his  friends, 
the  half-drunken  man  came  lurching  out  of  a  neighboring  saloon  and 
with  savage  oaths  rushed  at  Walton,  "  demanding  satisfaction." 
Weapons  were  drawn  and  shots  exchanged  on  the  instant,  and  one  of 
the  scattering  mob  of  negroes  fell  dead  with  a  bullet  through  his  heart, 
while  for  a  moment  Walton,  with  smoking  pistol,  stood  alone  looking 
down  at  his  assailant  writhing  on  the  sidewalk.  Friends  rushed  in, 
carried  one  man  into  the  drugstore,  and  crowded  Walton  into  the 
tavern  bar.  It  was  "  fair  fight."  He  had  drawn  only  in  self-defence. 
His  assailant  was  to  blame,  and  there  was  no  man  to  suggest  arrest. 
But  he  stood  there  pale  and  unnerved  now,  covered  with  sorrow  at  the 
disaster  to  the  man  who,  even  though  no  friend,  was  popular,  well  and 
widely  known,  and,  according  to  the  somewhat  accessible  standard  of 
the  State  and  day,  "a  perfect  gentleman."  It  was  characteristic  of  the 
time  and  place  that  nobody  present  happened  to  think  of  the  dead 
negro. 

Among  these  poor  people  Walton  Scroggs  was,  perhaps  deservedly, 
unpopular.  The  other  man,  open-handed,  generous,  easy-going,  had 
won  not  a  little  of  their  unreasoning  yet  enthusiastic  regard.  It  was 
while  Scroggs,  with  two  advisers,  was  seated,  sad  and  trembling,  in  a 
little  room  of  the  tavern  awaiting  the  result  of  the  doctor's  examina 
tion  of  his  fainting  foe,  that  a  citizen  came  rushing  in.  "  Scroggs, 
you'll  have  to  get  out  of  this, — quick.  There  was  a  meeting  of  that 
old  Grant  and  Colfax  Club  going  on  up  the  street,  and  the  niggers 
have  rushed  in  and  told  'em  you  killed  Pete  Jackson.  The  whole 
gang  of  'em  are  coming." 

Coming  ?  They  were  already  there.  With  furious  yells  and  venge 
ful  threats  a  surging  crowd  of  negroes  came  tearing  along  the  village 
street,  stopping  only  a  moment  to  verify  the  death  of  their  friend,  and 
— too  late  now  for  explanation  or  denial — they  swarmed  madly  into  the 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  101 

office,  demanding  Walton's  body.  The  battle  was  on  in  an  instant,  a 
battle  for  life,  a  sixty  seconds'  war  of  races,  white  against  black,  as  it 
had  to  be,  since  none  would  listen  to  reason,  and  superior  nerve  and 
aim  told.  Pistols  and  the  office  were  emptied  about  the  same  moment, 
but  five  more  darkies  had  gone  to  joiu  Pete  Jackson  at  the  mercy-seat, 
and  the  proprietor  of  the  Southern  Star  had  died  like  the  soldier 
he  was,  defending  the  life  of  his  guest.  Scroggs  himself,  seriously 
wounded,  was  borne  away  on  the  dark  Tugaloo  road,  and  far  and  wide 
the  affrighted  negroes  were  scurrying  over  the  country,  carrying  tidings 
of  riot  as  they  ran. 

It  was  all  a  miserable  blunder,  but  the  end  was  not  yet.  Lambert 
and  his  detachment  took  station  at  Vernon,  whence  the  negroes  had 
fled  in  terror,  and  all  warring  was  at  an  end.  Such  were  his  orders, 
and  he  had  no  choice ;  yet  it  would  have  been  wiser  counsel  to  recall 
him  and  his  party  within  twenty-four  hours.  They  could  have  done 
better  service  nearer  home.  How  it  happened  none  could  ever  surely 
say.  Among  the  whites  it  remained  for  years  an  article  of  faith  that 
desperate  and  determined  negroes  had  followed  Walton  Scroggs  to  his 
refuge  and  there  wreaked  vengeance  for  the  blood  of  their  fellows. 
Among  the  negroes  it  has  never  been  looked  on  as  other  than  a  direct 
manifestation  of  divine  wrath  upon  their  enemies  and  persecutors. 
How  the  house  could  have  so  suddenly  burst  into  flame  every  one  could 
theorize  and  no  one  explain ;  but  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
few  men  remaining  with  Captain  Close  in  camp  were  startled  from  their 
sleep  by  the  report  of  the  sentry's  musket  and  the  yell  of  "  Fire !"  and, 
springing  from  their  tents,  were  greeted  by  the  sound  of  crackling 
wood-work  and  screams  for  aid  and  the  sight  of  Walton  Hall  one  glare 
of  flame. 

Some  men  got  there  quicker  than  others, — none  were  slow, — but 
even  the  foremost  of  the  soldiers  were  appalled  and  bewildered  by  what 
they  saw  and  heard, — Katherine  Walton  and  the  quadroon  maid  Elinor 
wringing  their  hands  and  imploring  them  to  save  the  bedridden  mother, 
while  Esther  was  making  vain  effort  to  drag  a  helpless  form  through 
the  blazing  hall-way.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Close  came  laboring 
up  the  path.  He  was  slow,  heavy,  had  a  longer  distance  to  run,  and 
was  panting  hard,  but  he  burst  through  the  squad  already  scrambling 
up  the  steps,  sprang  through  the  fire-flashing  portal,  and  with  the 
strength  of  an  ox  heaved  Walton,  groaning,  upon  his  shoulders, 
tumbled  him  out  into  the  arms  of  his  men,  then  turned  on  gasping 

9* 


102  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

Esther.  "Where's  your  mother's  room?"  Almost  fainting,  she  could 
only  lean  upon  the  pillar  for  support  and  point  through  the  vista  of 
smoke  and  flame.  Close  leaped  in  like  a  tiger,  with  Cunningham  and 
Murphy  at  his  back.  Au  instant,  and  these  latter  reappeared,  blind, 
staggering,  their  faces  hidden  in  their  hands,  and  burst  out  into  the 
open  air,  stumbling  heedlessly  down  the  steps.  A  groan  went  up  from 
the  men  :  their  captain  was  gone.  In  vain  Burns  and  McBride  strove 
to  rush  in  to  the  rescue.  Mortal  man  could  not  stand  such  heat.  And 
then,  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  wailing  of  the  terrified  and  helpless 
women,  came  from  around  at  the  north  side  of  the  house  an  exultant 
cheer.  Those  men  who  had  had  sense  enough  to  strive  to  reach  the 
side  windows  were  rewarded  by  the  sudden  thrusting  open  of  the  shut 
ters  and  the  appearance  of  the  well-known  burly  form  of  their  captain 
with  some  blanket-shrouded  shape  in  his  arms.  The  flames  leaped 
forth  from  that  very  casement  but  a  second  after  Close  and  his  precious 
burden  were  lowered  to  the  walk  below. 

And  this  was  the  story  of  a  brave  man's  deed  he  heard  from  every 
lip,  said  Lambert  later,  as  he  hastened  back  on  receipt  of  the  news ; 
and  this  was  the  response  made  by  the  brave  man  himself,  when  his 
lieutenant  bent  over  his  senior's  seared  and  bandaged  face  next  day  and 
tendered  his  soldierly  congratulations.  Turning  slowly  over  on  his  side, 
Close  pointed  to  the  wreck  of  a  pair  of  uniform  trousers,  scorched  and 
burned  in  a  dozen  places  and  irretrievably  ruined. 

"  Look,"  said  he,  mournfully.  "  Them  was  my  best  pants." 
Then  it  was  found  that  not  only  had  the  strange  old  fellow  lost  his 
hair  and  beard,  and  not  a  little  of  the  cuticle  of  his  face  and  hands,  as 
well  as  those  patched  but  precious  "  best  pants,"  but  that  his  eyesight 
was  threatened.  The  good  old  doctor  who  had  for  so  many  years 
attended  the  Waltons,  and  who  had  come  at  once  to  renew  his  minis 
trations  under  the  humble  roof  in  town  that  was  their  temporary  refuge, 
listened  to  the  story  of  Close's  heroism  with  quickened  pulse  and  kin 
dling  eye.  He  and  Mr.  Barton  Potts,  who  had  hastened  back  from 
Quitman,  came  out  to  camp  to  see  and  thank  the  prostrate  soldier,  Potts 
being  ceremonious  in  his  expression  of  gratitude  and  admiration  and 
most  earnest  in  his  apology  for  what  he  had  said  and  thought  of  Close 
in  the  past.  The  doctor  stayed  longer  by  the  silent  sufferer's  cot,  care 
fully  studying  his  face  so  far  as  it  could  be  seen.  Professional  etiquette 
prevented  his  saying  anything  that  might  be  a  reflection  on  the  treat 
ment  and  practice  of  the  "  contract  surgeon,"  yet  it  was  plain  to  Lam- 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  103 

bert,  and  to  Potts  too,  that  he  was  disturbed.  Close,  however,  seemed  to 
think  less  of  his  own  plight  than  of  that  of  the  Waltons,  who,  except  the 
little  patch  of  fields  about  the  ruined  homestead,  had  lost  everything 
they  owned  in  the  world,  and  who  were  now  in  sore  anxiety  and  dis 
tress.  The  terrible  shock  and  exposure  had  been  too  much  for  one  so 
fragile  as  the  lady  mother,  and  Mrs.  Walton  was  sinking  fast.  Walton 
Scroggs,  too,  was  in  desperate  case,  though  soothed  by  the  knowledge 
that  the  cause  of  all  the  row  at  Vernon — that  is,  the  human  cause  of 
it  all — was  already  out  of  danger.  Close  begged  the  doctor  for  full 
particulars  not  only  as  to  how  they  were  but  how  they  expected  "  to  git 
along  through  the  winter,"  and  at  last  said  he  wished  to  speak  with 
him  alone,  whereat  Potts  and  Lambert,  wondering,  left  the  tent. 

It  was  long  before  the  doctor  came  forth,  and  when  he  did  he 
called  the  young  officer  aside,  a  quiver  in  his  voice  and  a  queer  moist 
ure  about  his  spectacles.  "  Have  you  no  expert  on  the  eye  and  ear  in 
the  army  ?"  he  asked.  "  The  captain  should  have  the  benefit  of  the 
best  advice  without  delay." 

Lambert  said  he  would  report  the  matter  at  once  to  department 
head-quarters,  and,  while  they  were  still  talking,  two  men  came  riding 
out  from  town, — "old  man  Potts,"  beyond  all  doubt,  and  with  him 
Lambert's  railway  friend  the  conductor,  and  these  gentlemen,  too,  had 
come  to  "  surrender."  Close  could  have  had  his  fill  of  triumph  and 
adulation  that  dull  December  evening,  had  he  been  so  minded  and  the 
doctor  more  complaisant ;  but  that  practitioner  said  that,  while  he  was 
not  in  charge  of  the  case,  he  should  strenuously  advise  against  further 
disturbance  of  the  patient.  When  at  last  they  were  all  gone  and  Lam 
bert  could  address  himself  to  the  little  packet  of  mail  stacked  up  on 
the  office  desk,  he  was  rejoicing  to  think  how  the  good  in  his  queer 
comrade  was  winning  due  recognition  at  last.  "  He's  a  rough  dia 
mond,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  but  brave  as  a  lion  and  true  as  steel." 

And  then  as  he  opened  the  first  letter  from  department  head-quar 
ters,  addressed  to  Brevet  Captain  J.  P.  Close,  First  Lieutenant,  — teenth 
Infantry,  Lambert's  face  paled  and  his  eyes  dilated.  It  was  a  brief,  curt 
official  note  directing  Captain  Close  to  turn  over  the  command  of  his 
company  and  post  and  report  in  arrest  to  the  colonel  of  his  regiment  at 
New  Orleans,  for  trial.  "  Acknowledge  receipt  by  telegraph." 

What  a  Christmas  greeting ! 


104  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 


XV. 

Those  were  the  days  which  but  foreshadowed  the  lettre  de  cachet 
episodes  of  the  winter  of  1870-71.  Never  an  ornamental,  never  a 
social,  and  often  an  embarrassing  feature  of  garrison  life,  the  first  lieu 
tenant  of  Company  "G"  had  been  laboring  under  the  further  disad 
vantage  of  a  six  months'  absence  from  the  post  of  the  regimental  colors. 
There  were  many  to  speak  against  and  none  to  speak  for  him.  His 
singular  habits  and  characteristics,  the  rumors  in  circulation  with  regard 
to  his  "  saving"  propensities  when  on  Bureau  duty,  and  the  queer 
"  yarns"  in  circulation  as  to  his  disposition  of  the  property  of  the  offi 
cers  who  had  died  on  his  hands  during  the  fever  epidemic,  had  all 
received  additional  impetus  from  the  publication  in  Northern  papers  of 
the  Parmelee  side  .of  the  Tugaloo  stories,  and  Close's  name  was  on  the 
regimental  market  at  low  quotation,  even  before  the  announcement  of 
his  arrest.  But  this  was  not  all.  For  months  the  regimental  com 
mander  had  been  the  recipient  of  frequent  letters  from  two  despairing 
widows,  relicts  of  the  late  Captain  Stone  and  Lieutenant  Tighe,  which 
letters  claimed  that  their  husbands  had  died  possessed  of  certain  items 
of  personal  property — watches,  jewelry,  money,  martial  equipments, 
etc. — of  which  Captain  Close  had  assumed  charge  and  for  only  a  very 
small  portion  of  which  had  he  ever  rendered  account.  They,  with 
other  ladies  of  the  regiment,  had  been  sent  North  when  it  became 
apparent  that  an  epidemic  was  probable ;  they  had  never  met  Captain 
Close,  but  were  confident,  from  the  unsatisfactory  nature  of  his  replies, 
and  from  all  they  could  learn  about  him  from  the  letters  they  received 
from  the  regiment,  that  he  was  robbing  the  widow  and  the  orphan,  and 
they  appealed  to  the  colonel  for  redress. 

Now,  old  Braxton  knew  almost  as  little  of  Close  as  did  they.  He 
asked  his  adjutant  and  one  or  two  captains  what  they  thought;  he  had 
a  letter  written  to  Close  telling  him  of  these  allegations  and  calling  for 
his  version  of  the  matter.  It  did  not  come,  and  another  letter — a 
"chaser" — was  sent,  demanding  immediate  reply,  and  nearly  a  week 
elapsed  before  reply  came.  Close  wrote  a  laboring  hand,  and  for  all 
official  matter  employed  the  company  clerk  as  amanuensis.  This  being 
personal,  he  spent  hours  in  copying  his  reply.  He  said  he  was  tired 
of  answering  the  letters  of  Mesdames  Stone  and  Tighe  on  this  subject. 
He  had  sent  them  inventories  of  everything  of  which  their  husbands 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  105 

died  possessed,  and  had  remitted  every  cent  he  had  realized  from  the 
sales  thereof.  Only  one  of  them  had  a  watch.  If  either  had  ever 
owned  diamond  studs,  as  was  alleged,  he,  Close,  had  never  seen  them, 
nor  the  hundreds  of  dollars  alleged  to  be  in  their  possession,  nor  the 
company  fund  for  which  Stone  was  accountable.  In  point  of  fact,  he, 
Close,  was  compelled  to  say  he  did  not  believe  the  ladies  knew  what 
their  husbands  did  or  did  not  have.  He  was  ready  to  make  oath  as  to 
the  truth  of  his  story,  and  Hospital  Steward  Griffin  and  Dr.  Meigs 
could  also  testify  that  the  deceased  officers  had  hardly  any  effects  to 
speak  of — could  they  only  be  found.  But  thereby  hung  a  tale  of  fur 
ther  trouble.  Meigs  himself  had  died  of  the  fever,  and  Griffin,  after 
a  fitful  career,  had  been  found  guilty  of  all  manner  of  theft  and  dis 
honesty  as  to  hospital  stores  in  his  charge,  and  was  himself  languish 
ing,  in  dishonorable  discharge,  a  prisoner  at  Ship  Island.  Here  Close 
thought  to  end  it  all,  but  the  widows — sisters  they  were,  who  were  born 
in  the  laundresses'  quarters  of  old  Fort  Fillmore  and  had  followed  the 
drum  all  over  Texas  and  New  Mexico  before  the  war — had  wedded 
strapping  sergeants  and  seen  their  spouses  raised  to  the  shoulder-straps 
in  the  depleted  state  of  the  regular  army  during  the  four  years  of  vol 
unteer  supremacy — the  widows  were  now  backed  by  a  priest  and  a  petti 
fogger,  and,  mindful  of  the  success  achieved  by  such  proceeding  when 
led  by  a  name  of  their  own  nationality,  were  determined  to  "  push 
things."  When  December  came,  such  was  the  accumulation  of  charge 
and  specification  against  the  absent  and  friendless  officer  that  old  Brax 
took  the  simplest  way  out  of  it  and  applied  for  a  court-martial  to  try 
the  case. 

The  day  after  Christmas,  therefore,  and  before  the  official  copy  of 
the  order  was  received  at  the  barracks  (as,  oddly,  often  happened  in 
those  times,  until  the  leak  was  discovered  and  duly  plugged),  the  New 
Orleans  evening  papers  contained  the  following  interesting  item : 

"  A  general  court-martial  of  unusual  importance  is  to  be  held  at  the 
barracks,  the  session  to  commence  at  10  A.M.  on  the  2d  of  January, 
for  the  trial  of  Brevet  Captain  J.  P.  Close  of  the  — teenth  Infantry 
on  charges  seriously  reflecting  upon  his  character  as  an  officer  and  a 
gentleman.  The  detail  for  the  court  comprises  officers  of  several  other 
regiments,  as  it  is  conceded  that  there  is  wide-spread  prejudice  against 
the  accused  among  his  comrades  in  the  — teenth.  Even  the  light 
battery  has  been  drawn  upon  in  this  instance,  an  unusual  circum 
stance,  as  officers  of  that  arm  generally  claim  exemption  from  such  ser- 
E* 


106  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

vice  in  view  of  the  peculiar  and  engrossing  nature  of  their  battery 
duties.  Brevet  Brigadier-General  Pike,  of  the  — th  Cavalry,  is  de 
tailed  as  president,  and  First  Lieutenant  S.  K.  Waring,  of  the  

Artillery,  as  judge  advocate  of  the  court.  The  latter  officer  will  be  re 
membered  as  the  hero  of  a  remarkable  adventure  in  connection  with 
the  recent  cause  celebre,  the  Lascelles  affair." 

"  Well,  may  I  be  kissed  to  death  !"  exclaimed  Captain  Lively,  of 
the  Foot,  as  he  burst  into  the  mess-room  that  evening.  "  Just  listen  to 
this,  will  you  !  Old  Close  to  be  tried  by  court-martial — with  New 
Clothes  for  judge  advocate!"  "New  Clothes,"  be  it  understood,  was 
a  name  under  which  Mr.  Waring  was  beginning  to  be  known,  thanks 
to  his  unwillingness  to  appear  a  second  time  in  any  garment  of  the 
fashion  of  the  day. 

"  By  gad,  if  I  were  the  old  man  I'd  object  to  the  J.  A.  on  the 
ground  of  natural  antipathy  !"  said  Mr.  Burton ;  and  among  the  men 
present,  some  of  whom  had  been  the  colonel's  advisers  in  drawing  up 
the  charges,  there  were  half  a  score  who  seemed  to  think  that  poor 
Close  could  hope  for  no  fair  play  now.  It  was  then  that  Major  Kin- 
sey,  red-faced  and  impetuous,  burst  in  with  the  rebuke  that  became  a 
classic  in  the  annals  of  the  old  barracks  : 

"  Fair  play  be  damned,  and  you  fellows  too !  What  fair  play  has 
the  man  had  at  your  hands  ?  It's  my  belief  that  he  never  would  get 
it,  but  for  the  fact  that  Waring  is  detailed." 

The  sensation  Kinsey's  outbreak  created  was  mild  compared  with 
that  caused  by  Close's  appearance  before  a  grave  and  dignified  court  in 
the  week  that  followed.  On  the  principle  of  "a  clean  sweep,"  it  had 
been  determined  to  arraign  him  on  charges  covering  the  allegations  as 
to  his  official  misconduct  in  failing  or  refusing  to  support  the  Federal 
authorities  during  the  late  disturbances.  "  Might  as  well  get  rid  of 
him  for  good  and  all,"  said  Old  Brax.  And  so  the  array  of  charges 
was  long  and  portentous.  So  was  the  bill  for  transportation  and  per 
diem  of  civilian  witnesses  the  government  afterwards  had  to  pay.  So 
was  Braxton's  face  when,  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  exhausted 
without  proving  much  of  anything,  the  testimony  for  the  defence  began 
to  be  unfolded.  It  transpired  that  Mr.  Waring  had  gone  up  to  head 
quarters  on  the  evening  of  the  1st  of  January  and  formally  asked 
the  general  commanding  to  be  relieved  from  duty  as  judge  advocate 
and  allowed  to  defend  the  accused.  The  general  was  astonished,  and 
asked  why.  Then  Waring  laid  before  him  piece  by  piece  the  evidence 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  107 

he  had  collected  as  a  result  of  his  investigation,  and  the  chief  ripped 
out  something  Old  Brax  and  his  adjutant  might  have  been  startled  to 
hear,  but,  after  thinking  it  all  over,  told  Waring  to  go  ahead,  try  the 
case,  "  exhaust  the  evidence,"  and  never  mind  the  consequences.  He 
sent  his  aide-de-camp  down  to  say  to  Close  that  any  officer  whose  as 
sistance  he  desired  should  be  assigned  as  amicus  curise.  Close  replied 
that  he  "  reckoned  he  could  git  along  without  any  amycuss  curious, 
whatever  that  was, — he'd  talked  it  over  with  Mr.  Waring  and  Mr. 
Pierce ;"  and  the  trial  went  on. 

Parmelee  was  the  first  witness  to  flatten  out  and  go  to  pieces,  and 
the  only  one  who  had  anything  but  "  hearsay"  to  offer  on  the  score  of 
the  official  neglects.  The  widows  were  the  next.  They  began  trucu 
lently  and  triumphantly  enough,  but  the  cross-examination  reduced 
them  to  contradictious  and  tears.  It  became  evident  that  most  of 
Stone's  company  fund  went  North  with  one  of  them,  that  the  alleged 
diamonds  were  paste,  and  that  both  Stone  and  Tighe  had  been  gambling 
and  drinking  for  months  previous  to  their  fatal  seizures.  It  was  es 
tablished  that,  so  far  from  having  defrauded  the  widows  of  their  money, 
the  old  fellow  had  sent  them  each  one  hundred  dollars  over  and  above 
the  proceeds  of  the  meagre  sales,  besides  accounting  for,  as  sold  at  fair 
valuation,  items  he  never  disposed  of  until  Lambert  bought  them. 

Then  when  it  came  to  testimony  as  to  war  and  other  service,  Close 
sat  there,  blind,  bandaged,  scarred,  and  little  Pierce,  who  had  volun 
teered  as  "  amycuss"  anyhow,  unrolled  one  letter  after  another  and 
laid  them  on  the  table,  and  they  went  the  rounds  of  the  court  until  old 
Pike  choked  them  off  by  saying  they  couldn't  well  attach  the  accused's 
scars  and  wounds  to  the  records,  any  more  than  these  letters :  he  was 
ready  to  vote,  unless  the  gentleman  himself  desired  to  say  something, 
— had  some  statement  to  offer.  How  was  that,  Mr.  Judge  Advocate  ? 
And  Waring  turned  to  Pierce,  who  was  beginning  to  unroll  a  batch  of 
manuscript,  to  which  he  had  devoted  two  sleepless  nights  and  in  which 
he  had  lavished  satire  and  sarcasm  by  the  page  upon  all  enemies  or  ac 
cusers  of  his  client.  Pierce  meant  it  to  be  the  sensation  of  the  day,  and 
the  court  was  crowded  to  hear  him  read  it,  despite  the  significant  ab 
sence  of  Brax  and  his  now  confounded  advisers.  Braxton  already  was 
in  deep  distress,  the  victim  of  overweening  confidence  in  the  statements 
of  his  associates.  "  Upon  my  soul,  general,"  he  had  said  to  Pike, "  the 
result  of  this  trial  already  makes  me  feel  as  though  I,  not  Close,  were 


108  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

the  criminal."  And  Pierce  fully  meant  to  "show  up"  the  scandal 
mongers  in  the  case,  placing  the  blame  on  them  and  not  their  colonel. 

But  it  was  not  to  be.  Old  Close  put  forth  a  bandaged  hand  and 
restrained  him.  "I've  been  thinking  that  all  over,"  he  said,  "and 
I'll  just  say  a  word  instid."  With  that  he  slowly  found  his  feet  and 
the  green  patch  over  his  eyes  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  court.  The 
silence  of  midnight  fell  on  the  crowded  room,  as,  leaning  on  the  back 
of  his  chair,  the  accused  stood  revealed  in  the  worn  old  single-breasted 
coat,  the  coarse  trousers  and  shoes,  so  long  associated  with  him.  He 
cleared  his  throat  and  then  faltered.  He  did  not  know  how  to  begin. 
At  last  the  words  came — slowly,  and  with  many  a  hitch  and  stumble : 

"  You  see,  it's  this  way,  General  Pike  and  gentlemen  of  the  court.  I 
never  knew  anything  about  what  was  expected  of  a  regular  officer,  'r 
I  wouldn't  have  tried  it.  All  I  knew  was  what  I'd  seen  duriu'  the 
war,  when  they  didn't  seem  to  be  so  different  from  the  rest  of  us.  I 
was  bred  on  the  farm ;  never  had  no  education ;  had  to  work  like  a 
horse  ever  since  I  was  weaned,  almost,  not  only  for  my  own  livin', 
but — but  there  was  the  mother,  and,  as  I  grew  up,  the  hull  care  of  the 
farm  fell  on  me,  for  my  father  never  was  strong,  and  he  broke  down 
entirely.  When  he  died  there  warn't  nothing  left  but  a  mortgage. 
There  was  the  mother  and  four  kids  to  be  fed  on  that.  For  twenty 
years,  from  boy  to  man,  there  never  was  a  time  a  copper  didn't  look  as 
big  as  a  cart-wheel  to  me ;  and  when  a  man's  been  brought  up  that 
way  he  don't  outgrow  it  all  of  a  sudden.  I've  built  the  mother  a 
home  of  her  own,  and  paid  off  the  mortgage  and  stocked  the  farm, 
and  educated  the  youngsters  and  seen  them  married  off,  and  now  I 
'low  they'll  expect  me  to  educate  the  children.  When  a  hull  famb'ly 
grows  up  around  one  bread-winner  it  comes  natural  for  the  next  genera 
tion  to  live  on  him  too.  I  couldn't  ha'  gone  to  the  war  only  Billy 
— he's  the  next  boy — was  big  enough  to  take  care  o'  things  once  the 
mortgage  was  paid,  and  afterwards  I  jined  the  army — the  riggle-ers — 
because  it  looked  to  me  like  they  got  bigger  pay  for  less  work  than 
any  trade  I  ever  heard  of  out  our  way.  I'm  sorry  I  did  it,  'cause  so 
long's  there's  no  more  fightin'  I  seem  to  be  in  the  way ;  but  I  don't 
want  to  quit," — and  here  the  rugged  old  fellow  seemed  to  expand  by  at 
least  a  foot, — "  and  I  don't  mean  to  quit  except  honorable.  There 
ain't  a  man  livin' — nor  a  woman  either — can  truthfully  say  I  ever 
defrauded  them  of  a  cent." 

And  then  Close  felt  for  the  chair  from  which  he  had  unconsciously 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  109 

advanced,  and  which  Pierce  hastened  to  push  forward  to  him,  and  ab 
ruptly  sat  down.  Court  adjourned  sine  die  just  at  luncheon-time,  and 
some  of  the  officers  of  the  infantry  mess  invited  the  members  to  come 
over  and  have  a  bite  and  a  sup.  They  all  went  but  Cram  and  Waring, 
Cram  saying  he  had  asked  a  few  friends  to  his  quarters,  and  Waring 
audibly  remarking  that  it  would  take  away  his  appetite  to  have  to  sit 
at  meat  with  so  and  so ;  so  and  so  being  the  officers  who  were  mainly 
instrumental  in  working  up  the  case  against  Close.  The  telegram  sent 
by  Mr.  Newton  Lambert  that  afternoon  was  on  his  own  responsibility, 
because  neither  judge  advocate  nor  member  of  the  court  could  reveal 
its  finding,  but  it  bore  all  the  weight  of  authority  and  it  brought  untold 
relief  to  an  anxious  household;  not,  as  might  be  expected,  to  the  im 
mediate  friends  and  relatives  of  the  accused  in  the  distant  North,  for 
never  until  days  afterwards  did  they  know  anything  about  it,  but  to  a 
little  family  "  lately  in  rebellion"  and  holding  in  abhorrence  Captain 
Close  and  all  his  kin  ;  for  the  despatch  was  addressed  to  Mrs.  Walton 
Scroggs,  Pass  Christian. 


XVI. 

The  honorable  acquittal  of  Captain  Close  proved,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  certain  of  his  accusers,  and  stirred 
up  trouble  in  the  gallant  — teenth.  This  was  a  matter  Close  didn't 
much  mind.  He  was  granted  six  months'  leave  on  surgeon's  certifi 
cate  of  disability,  which  meant  on  full  pay,  and  he  took  it  very  hard 
that  some  means  were  not  devised  to  send  him  North  under  orders,  so 
that  he  could  draw  mileage.  He  and  Lambert  went  back  to  Tugaloo 
together  and  packed  up,  for  "G"  Company  was  ordered  relieved  by 
another,  and  Close  was  there  made  the  happy  recipient  of  a  pass  to 
Chicago,  while  the  old  company,  after  seeing  their  ex-commander  safely 
aboard  the  sleeper,  went  on  down  the  road  to  New  Orleans  and  took 
station  once  more  with  regimental  head -quarters. 

Here  Mr.  Lambert  found  means  of  getting  occasional  brief  leaves 
of  absence  and  of  employing  his  two  or  three  days  in  visits  to  his  erst 
while  neighbors  of  Walton  Hall,  now  comfortably  domiciled  in  a  pic 
turesque  but  somewhat  dilapidated  old  cottage  close  to  the  tumbling 
waves  of  the  gulf.  It  had  been  the  property  of  a  near  relative  before 
the  war,  and  was  reclaimed  and  put  in  partial  order  for  their  use,  ap 
parently,  through  the  efforts  of  their  old  physician  and  the  energies 

10 


110  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

of  Mr.  Barton  Potts.  Here  the  warm,  soft,  salty  breezes  seemed  to 
bring  new  lease  of  life  to  the  beloved  invalid,  though  it  was  plain  to 
one  and  all  she  could  never  be  herself  again.  Scroggs,  her  kinsman 
son-in-law,  was  rapidly  mending  and  eagerly  casting  about  for  employ 
ment.  Floyd,  restored  to*  duty  without  trial,  was  serving  patiently 
and  faithfully  with  his  regiment  in  Texas,  bent  evidently  on  making 
good  his  words.  The  two  events  which  seemed  to  bring  general  cheer 
and  rejoicing  to  the  household  were  those  which  three  months  before 
would  have  been  promptly  derided  as  absurd  and  impossible :  one  was 
the  weekly  letter  from  a  trooper  in  the  Union  blue,  the  other  a  much 
rarer  visit  from  a  Yankee  subaltern,  whose  profession  was  not  to  be  dis 
guised  because  he  came  in  "  cits."  On  the  occasion  of  his  first  appear 
ance  in  that  garb  Miss  Walton  did  him  the  honor  to  say,  "  Ah  never 
did  like  you,  but  Ah  do  think  those  clothes  wuhse  than  the  others." 
This  was  rather  hard,  because,  as  the  spring  came  on,  Lambert's  lot 
at  the  barracks  was  not  as  pleasant  as  it  might  have  been,  and  his  com 
fort  consisted  in  running  over  to  see  how  Madam  Walton  was  doing. 

Cram  and  his  battery,  with  Waring,  Pierce,  and  all,  had  been  or 
dered  away,  and  then  for  the  first  time  Lambert  realized,  what  his 
regimental  comrades  had  marked  for  months,  that  he  preferred  the 
companionship  of  the  battery  men  to  that  of  the  men  who  wore  the 
bugle,  the  badge  of  the  infantry  in  those  benighted  days.  Old  Brax 
concluded  he  had  had  enough  of  garrison  life,  and  sought  a  long  leave. 
Major  Minor  took  command  of  the  regiment  and  post,  and  the  adjutant 
and  quartermaster  took  command  of  Major  Minor.  It  had  neither 
been  forgiven  nor  forgotten  by  these  staff'  officials  that  Lambert  had 
been  equally  outspoken  in  defence  of  Close  and  denunciation  of  his 
accusers,  and  the  further  fact  that  he  preferred  to  spend  his  leisure 
hours  with  his  fellow-graduates  of  the  artillery  rather  than  his  uncon 
genial  brethren  of  the  — teenth  gave  the  oifended  ones  abundant 
material  to  work  on.  Minor  was  a  weakling, — a  bureau  officer  during 
the  war  days,  a  man  who  could  muster  and  disburse  without  a  flaw, 
but  never  set  a  squadron  in  the  field  without  a  "fluke."  Lambert  was 
a  capital  drill-master  and  tactician,  and  "G"  Company,  under  his  in 
struction,  was  rapidly  overhauling  every  other  in  the  regiment,  even 
those  of  Kinsey  and  Lively,  the  two  real  soldiers  among  the  captains. 
Minor  hated  the  sight  of  a  page  of  tactics,  and  never  even  held  dress 
parade.  Lambert  had  a  clear,  ringing  voice,  and  Minor  couldn't  make 
himself  heard.  One  morning  the  orderly  came  to  Lambert  at  company 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  Ill 

drill  with  "the  major's  compliments,  and  please  to  take  Company  *G' 
outside  the  garrison,  or  make  less  noise."  It  was  the  adjutant's  doing, 
as  things  turned  out  afterwards,  but  it  angered  Lambert  against  his  com 
mander.  Then,  when  May  came  round  and  he  asked  for  three  days' 
leave,  Minor  hummed  and  hawed  and  looked  at  his  staff  officer  and 
finally  requested  that  it  be  submitted  in  writing ;  and  "  it"  came  back 
with  a  curt  endorsement  to  the  eifect  that  Lieutenant  Lambert  would 
be  expected  hereafter  to  show  more  interest  in  matters  connected  with 
his  regimental  duties :  the  application  was  disapproved. 

All  this  time  he  had  written  every  few  weeks  to  Close,  and  got  a 
very  nice  letter  in  reply,  written  by  a  young  fellow  who  announced 
himself  as  the  captain's  brother  Wallace.  The  captain  was  getting 
better, — very  much  better, — but  the  eye-doctor's  bill  was  a  big  one, 
and  he  thought  the  government  ought  to  pay  it.  He  had  bought  some 
land  up  there  six  years  before,  and,  what  with  schools  and  roads  and 
bridges,  the  taxes  were  awful.  What  he  wouldn't  mind  doing  would 
be  to  come  back  to  the  regiment  as  quartermaster ;  but  in  those  days 
there  was  no  four-year  limit  to  staff  positions,  and  the  incumbents, 
both  adjutant  and  quartermaster,  proposed  to  hang  on  as  long  as  possi 
ble,  and  Lambert  replied  that  he  feared  there  would  be  no  chance. 

And  then,  one  day,  there  came  a  telegram  to  the  commanding  officer 
of  Company  "G"  at  the  barracks  with  the  brief  announcement  that  a 
soldier  serving  in  the  26th  Infantry  under  the  name  of  Roberts  had 
been  identified  by  Corporal  Floyd  Walton,  4th  Cavalry,  as  Private 
Riggs,  a  deserter  from  the  — teenth.  Please  send  charges  and  de 
scriptive  list.  Two  weeks  later  Lieutenant  Lambert  was  summoned 
to  Austin  as  a  witness  before  the  general  court-martial  appointed  for 
his  trial.  The  Morgan  line  steamer  would  not  sail  until  Saturday 
night.  There  was  time  to  run  over  and  see  if  the  Waltons  had  not 
something  to  send  to  their  soldier  boy  in  Texas,  and  Lambert  sent  his 
trunk  to  the  Morgan  wharf  while  the  Mobile  boat  paddled  him  away 
through  the  Rigolets  and  out  into  Mississippi  Sound  and  landed  him 
at  the  familiar  pier  at  Pass  Christian  just  at  twilight  of  a  lovely  May 
evening.  Ten  minutes'  walk  along  the  shore  brought  him  to  an  en 
closure  wherein  the  moonbeams  were  beginning  to  play  among  the 
leaves  of  the  magnolia  and  to  throw  a  huge  black  shadow,  that  of  the 
grove  of  live-oaks,  over  the  veranda  of  an  old,  white-painted,  Southern 
homestead  bowered  in  vines  and  shrubbery  at  the  end  of  the  broad 
shell  pathway  leading  from  the  gate.  Somewhere  among  the  foliage 


112  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

a  mocking-bird  was  carolling  to  the  rising  moon,  and  the  music  of  soft, 
girlish  voices  and  subdued  laughter  came  drifting  out  on  the  evening 
air.  Lambert's  heart  gave  a  quickened  throb  or  two  as  he  recognized 
Kate  Walton's  unmistakable  tones.  He  had  to  traverse  the  length 
of  the  moonlit  walk.  She,  with  her  unseen  friend,  was  in  shadow,  so 
there  was  no  possibility  of  trying  the  effect  of  surprise. 

"Well,  whayuh'n  the  wide  wuhld  'd  you  come  from?"  was  her 
nonchalant  greeting.  "  Ah  supposed  you  were  dayd'n  buried."  (There 
is  no  such  thing  as  spelling  that  word  as  pronounced  by  the  rosiest, 
sauciest,  and  possibly  sweetest  little  mouth  in  creation.  He  could  not 
take  his  eyes  from  it,  and  she  knew  it.) — "  Miss  Awgden,  this  is 
Mr.  Lambert.  Ah  think  you've  heard  sister  Esthuh  speak  of  him. — 
Ah  suppose  you  want  to  go  right  in  to  see  huh.  Ah'll  call  huh  down." 

So  Lambert  made  his  bow  to  Miss  Ogden,  who  had  her  own 
womanly  intuitions  as  to  the  extent  of  his  eagerness  to  see  sister  Esther, 
and  who  presently  declared  she  had  to  go  home,  and  went  without 
much  delay  over  the  leave-taking,  in  spite  of  Katesie's  voluble  remon 
strance  and  well-feigned  disappointment.  Miss  Walton,  in  fact,  hung 
on  to  her  all  the  way  to  the  gate  and  made  every  proper  and  apparent 
effort  to  detain  her  there ;  but  a  wise  head  had  Miss  Bettie  Ogden  : 
she  would  not  delay.  She  had  heard  sister  Esther  talk  of  Mr.  Lam 
bert  time  and  again,  and  had  read  in  Katesie's  significant  silence  or 
simulated  scorn  a  whole  volume  of  information.  She  went  tripping 
lightly,  laughingly  away,  and  Katesie  watched  her  until  she  was  out 
of  sight,  then  came  dawdling  slowly  back.  She  well  knew  it  would 
be  unlike  Esther  to  come  down  inside  of  twenty  minutes. 

Lambert  was  seated  in  the  big  wicker  chair,  amusing  himself  with 
a  kitten.  He  did  not  even  look  up  when  she  finally  returned. 

"  Hasn't  Esthuh  come  down  yet  ?  Ah  told  huh  you  wuh  hyuh, 
ten  minutes  ago." 

"  No.  Possibly  she  didn't  understand.  I  didn't  hear  her  answer. 
Indeed,  I  could  hardly  hear  you  call." 

"  That's  because  you  were  listening  to  Bettie  Awgden."  (Pause 
for  reply  or  denial :  none  offered.)  "  She  doesn't  like  Yankees  any 
better'n  I  did— do." 

"  Then  it  was  on  my  account  she  left  so  suddenly.  Where  does 
she  live?  Pll  run  and  call  her  back  and  tell  her — what  shall  I  tell 
her? — that  I  only  wanted  to  say  good-by  to  Mrs.  Scroggs?" 

"You  haven't  said  how- de-do  yet." 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  113 

"  I  haven't  ?  How  utterly  stupid  of  me  !  You  see,  between  Miss 
Ogden  and  the  cat,  you  were  so  engrossed  that  I  deferred  that  ceremony 
until  you  should  have  time  to  devote  to  me.  Permit  me."  And, 
carefully  depositing  pussy  on  the  chair,  he  quickly  bent  low  and  seized 
Miss  Katesie's  hand,  which  he  raised  towards  his  lips  :  "  Miss  Walton, 
I  am  so  glad  to  see  you  again.  This  fortnight  has  seemed  a  year." 

Indignantly  she  snatched  her  hand  away. 

"Fawtnight !  It's  five  weeks  to-day  since  you  were  hyuh."  Then, 
suddenly  conscious,  "  Not  that  Jcay-uh." 

He  started  up  in  feigned  astonishment.  "Five  weeks?  You 
amaze  me  !  and  how  sweet  of  you  to  keep  count !"  (Something  more 
than  mere  teasing  and  merriment  now  in  the  sparkle  of  his  eyes  and 
the  twitching  about  the  corners  of  his  handsome,  sensitive  mouth.) 
"  Those  five  weeks  have  been  five  years." 

But  she  had  sprung  to  the  door-way,  wrathful  at  being  so  artfully 
trapped. 

"  Ah  didn't  keep  count.  It  was  Moh ;  V  Ah  don't  cay-uh  how 
long  you  stay  away,  or  how  soon  you  go.  Esikuh  !  ain't  you  ay vuh 
coming  down  ?  Mr.  Lambert  says  he's  got  to  go." 

"You  haven't  told  me  how  Mrs.  Walton  is,  and  Mr.  Scroggs, 
Miss  Katesie.  And  how's  Cousin  Bart?" 

"  Cousin  Bart's  up  at  Quitman ;  so's  Walton ;  and  Moh's  'bout 
the  same.  She'll  nayvuh  be  any  better  so  long's  Floyd's  whuh  he  is 
— weah-ing  a  Yankee  jacket." 

"That  is  queer,  isn't  it?  The  queerest  thing  about  it  is  that  he's 
just  been  made  corporal  in  the  very  troop  he  charged  into  at  Selma. 
A  classmate  of  mine  is  second  lieutenant  in  the  same  troop,  and  wrote 
me  about  it." 

"  Floyd  ought  to  be  the  lieutenant." 

"  Miss  Walton,  you  continually  surprise,  and  now  you  delight  me ! 
This  is  really  promising  !  A  Southern  girl  says  her  brother  ought  to 
be  a  Yankee  officer." 

But  she  flew  at  him  from  the  door- step,  her  eyes  flashing  fire.  He 
seized  the  kitten  and  held  that  struggling  quadruped,  paws  foremost, 
between  him  and  impending  vengeance. 

"  Oh !  Ah  do  despise  an'  hate  you  maw  an'  maw  ev'y  time  you 
come.  You're  mean,  spiteful,  hateful !  You  know  Ah  nevuh  meant 
any  such  thing.  Ah'd  sco'n  him  if  he  was!  Ah'd  tuhn  mah  back 
on  him — as  Ah  do  on  you  now,  an'  Ah  wish  it  was  fo'evuh  !" 

10* 


114  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

And,  suiting  action  to  word,  the  tumbling,  clustering  ringlets 
which  fell  upon  her  pretty  shoulders  were  flouted  almost  in  his  face  as 
she  whirled  about  and  marched  tragically  back  to  the  door-way. 

"  Well,"  said  Lambert,  mournfully,  "  it's  an  ill  wind  that  blows 
nobody  good.  Your  wish  bids  fair  to  be  granted.  I  think  I  won't 
disturb  Mrs.  Scroggs  to-night,  and  if  you'll  tell  me  where  to  find  Miss 
Ogden  I'll  bid  her  come  back  to  you,  so  that  you  can  resume  the  fun  I 
interrupted.  Kindly  say  to  Mrs.  Scroggs  that  if  she  has  anything  to 
send  to  Floyd  and  can  get  it  ready  before  ten  to-morrow  morning  I'll 
be  glad  to  take  it  with  my  baggage.  The  hotel  porter  will  come  for  it. 
— Good-night,  pussy.  You  don't  seem  to  object  to  Yanks. — Good-by, 
Miss  Katesie.  When  your  wishes  are  so  promptly  granted  and  you 
so  easily  get  rid  of  a  fellow,  you  might  shake  hands  with  him ;  but 
pussy  '11  have  to  do." 

With  that  he  solemnly  took  the  kitten  by  a  furry  paw  and  with 
ludicrous  gravity  gave  it  a  formal  shake,  then  turned  deliberately  away. 
He  was  down  the  steps  and  crunching  along  the  shell  walk  before  she 
started  from  the  stupor  which  had  seized  her.  Then  she  sprang  to  the 
edge  of  the  veranda,  and  he,  treading  lightly  now  and  listening  eagerly 
for  the  sounding  of  the  summons  for  a  parley,  heard,  as  he  expected, 
the  half-tremulous,  half-truculent  hail, — 

"  Aw,  Mist'  Lambert !" 

"Yes?" 

"  Whuh  you  going  ?" 

"  Oh,  didn't  I  tell  you  ?     I'm  ordered  to  Texas." 

Then  he  listened,  wickedly,  maliciously,  and  vouchsafed  no  further 
word.  For  a  moment  not  a  sound  came  from  the  shaded  veranda. 
Slowly,  therefore,  he  turned,  and,  treading  as  though  on  china  teacups, 
went  on  towards  the  gate.  Did  he  hope  she  would  call  again  ?  Did 
he  know  or  realize  the  deep-rooted,  stubborn  pride  of  the  Southern  girl  ? 
Slowly,  more  slowly  still,  he  faltered  to  the  gate.  Nearing  it,  still 
eagerly  listening,  he  shortened  step,  only  pretending  to  walk.  Still  no 
sound,  no  summons  to  return.  His  hand  was  on  the  latch,  and  there  it 
waited,  reluctant  to  open,  but  waiting  was  vain.  He  glanced  back  over 
his  shoulder,  and,  vague  and  shadowy,  he  could  just  distinguish  the 
outline  of  the  slender  form  he  had  grown  to  love  with  such  longing 
and  tenderness  and  passion.  It  clung  there  motionless.  At  least,  then, 
she  had  not  turned  indifferently  away.  But  the  word,  the  whisper  he 
prayed  for  and  craved  to  hear,  and  would  so  eagerly  have  obeyed,  came 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  115 

not  to  recall  him.  Fifteen — twenty  seconds  he  waited,  then,  in  sudden 
pride,  or  pique,  or  resolution,  threw  open  the  white  barrier,  slammed 
it  after  him,  and  strode  briskly  away,  startling  the  mocking-birds  into 
sudden  silence  with  the  lively  whistling  of  an  old  West  Point  quickstep. 
But  Esther,  coming  forth  from  the  open  door-way  to  greet  and  wel 
come  their  friend,  saw  the  erect,  soldierly  figure  matching  off  in  the 
moonlight ;  saw  her  little  sister  standing  as  though  rooted  to  the  spot ; 
heard  the  ostentatious  spirit  and  swing  and  rhythm  of  "  Buenos  noches;" 
heard  a  faint,  questioning,  incredulous,  tearful  little  voice  piping  "Mr. 
Lambert !  Mr.  Lambert !"  and  the  woman  had  learned  in  that  instant 
what  the  lover  would  have  given  worlds  to  know. 


XVII. 

"  Lieutenant,  there's  no  use  trying.  We're  only  twenty,  and  there 
must  be  two  hundred  of  'em.  They've  got  that  stage-load  long  before 
now,  escort  and  all.  The  whole  thing's  over  with.  If  there  were  any 
women  'twould  be  different ;  every  man  of  us  would  go  then  to  try  to 
rescue  them ;  but  there  were  only  men.  I'm  as  sorry  for  Colonel 
Sweet  as  you  can  be,  but  we  can  get  his  body  when  the  Indians  have 
gone.  We  can't  afford  to  lose  any  more  of  our  people." 

The  speaker  was  the  captain  of  a  party  of  Texan  frontiersmen, — 
rangers  they  were  afterwards  called,  when  their  organization  was  more 
complete ;  but  these  were  the  days  when  the  Lone  Star  State  was  un- 
invaded  by  railways  and  when  to  its  very  heart — far  as  the  capital — 
the  savage  Kiowas  and  Comanches  often  raided  in  full  force,  ravaging 
the  scattered  settlements  far  and  wide.  Lieutenant  Lambert,  his  duty 
finished  with  his  testimony  in  the  case  of  the  deserter  Riggs,  had 
obtained  permission  to  delay  his  return  a  few  days  and  taken  stage  to 
Lampasas,  where  Floyd  Walton  was  stationed  with  his  troop.  Lam 
bert  would  not  willingly  return  without  seeing  him  and  delivering  in 
person  the  little  packages  so  hurriedly  prepared  at  the  new  home. 
Then,  too,  there  was  no  man  in  the  army  in  whom  the  young  officer 
now  felt  so  deep  an  interest.  Was  he  not  Katesie's  brother,  and  might 
not  that  brother  have  some  influence  over  that  obdurate  heart? 

It  was  not  the  porter  of  the  hotel  who  went  for  those  packages.  It 
was  Lambert  himself,  hoping,  of  course,  to  see  the  young  lady  whom 
he  had  so  successfully  tormented  the  evening  previous;  but  his  scheme 


116  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

had  been  checkmated  in  most  absurdly  unroraantic  fashion.  The  New 
Orleans  evening  paper  among  its  military  items  contained  a  brief  para 
graph  to  the  effect  that  Lieutenant  Lambert  was  ordered  over  to  Austin 
as  a  witness  before  a  court-martial  there  in  session,  but  would  return 
to  the  barracks  in  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  this  paper  he  had  been  care 
less  enough  to  leave  on  the  veranda.  Katesie  had  gone  miserably  to 
her  room,  Esther  had  lit  upon  the  paragraph,  and  in  ten  minutes  Lam 
bert's  melodramatic  scheme  was  exploded.  Never  would  he  forget 
the  saucy  merriment  in  her  pretty  face  when  he  appeared  upon  the 
scene  that  morning,  hoping  and  expecting  to  find  her  penitent,  piteous, 
and  mutely  begging  to  be  forgiven  before  he  went  away.  He  had  come 
prepared  to  be  grave,  sorrowful,  dignified,  and  then  to  be  disarmed  by 
her  distress,  to  lead  her  away  under  the  magnolias  to  the  shaded  recesses 
of  the  old  Southern  garden,  there  to  assure  her  she  was  pardoned,  and 
then  to  tell  her  she  was  loved.  A  charming  chdteau  en  Espagne  was 
that  which  the  boy  had  builded ;  a  sweet,  sad,  blissful,  ecstatic  parting 
was  it  all  to  be  as  a  result  of  his  skilful  use  of  his  "  sudden  orders  to 
Texas;"  but,  like  many  another  well-laid  plan,  it  went  ludicrously 
aglee.  She  was  there  on  the  veranda,  romping  with  her  kitten,  when 
he  came,  and  never  made  the  faintest  reference  to  his  departure.  He 
alluded  gloomily  to  the  fact  that  the  boat  would  be  along  in  less  than 
an  hour,  and  she  cheerfully  responded,  "  Yes ;  Ah  thought  Ah  huhd  its 
whistle  just  a  moment  ago,"  and  raced  pussy  to  the  far  end  of  the 
gallery.  He  tried  other  announcements  with  no  better  success,  and  was 
bewildered  and  defeated  and  stung  by  her  apparent  heartlessness  and 
indifference  when  at  last  he  had  to  go,  and  went  away  miserably  jealous 
and  wretchedly  in  love,  fairly  beaten  at  his  own  game. 

So  gloomy  and  unlike  himself  was  Lambert  that  the  two  or  three 
classmates  who  happened  to  be  at  Austin  were  much  surprised,  and  so 
absorbed  was  he  in  his  own  woes  and  pangs  that  not  until  he  reached 
Lampasas  did  he  learn  that  the  soldierly-looking  man  who  rode  all  the 
way  from  the  capital  with  him  was  no  less  a  person  than  the  Brevet  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Sweet  of  whom  he  had  heard  so  much  at  Tugaloo,  and 
who,  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  was  now  on  his  way  to  report  for 
duty  at  a  frontier  post.  The  stage  with  the  colonel  rumbled  away  on 
its  journey  after  supper.  Lambert  went  on  out  to  camp,  only  to  find 
that  Corporal  Walton  with  four  men  had  gone  as  escort  to  that  very 
stage,  as  there  were  rumors  that  the  Comanches  and  Lipans  were  on 
the  war-path  again.  It  might  be  four  days  before  they  returned.  It 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  117 

would  be  two  before  a  stage  went  back  to  Austin,  and  it  was  now  nine 
o'clock  at  night. 

The  very  next  morning  brought  direful  news.  A  big  band  of  hos- 
tiles  had  swooped  down  on  the  stage  station  at  the  crossing  of  the 
Caliente,  fifty  miles  to  the  northwest,  massacred  everybody,  and  run 
off  the  stock.  The  cavalry  troop  in  camp  at  Lampasas  was  miles  away 
by  the  time  the  tidings  reached  Lambert  at  the  tavern  in  town.  Then 
came  worse  news.  A  settler  rode  spurring  in  from  the  Concho  trail  to 
say  that  he  had  seen  the  Indians  when  they  attacked  the  stage  with 
overpowering  numbers,  and  had  just  managed  to  escape  with  his  own 
life.  He  believed  that  not  one  soul  was  left  to  tell  the  tale.  There 
were  many  gallant  spirits  among  the  Texans  of  the  frontier, — men 
who  were  accustomed  to  fight  at  the  drop  of  the  hat,  and  who,  in 
defence  of  home  and  friends,  were  indomitable.  Yet  even  these  well 
knew  the  hopelessness  of  the  situation  as  described.  They  were  far  too 
few  in  number  to  undertake  the  pursuit  and  attack  of  such  a  band  as 
this.  Moreover,  their  own  wives  and  children  would  be  left  in  danger 
were  they  to  take  the  field.  It  was  even  impossible  to  persuade  two  or 
three  of  their  number  to  ride  post-haste  on  the  trail  of  the  cavalry, 
who,  at  the  first  alarm  and  on  receipt  of  tidings  that  the  Indians  had 
ridden  away  eastward  towards  the  Brazos,  had  taken  the  road  for  Waco 
at  dawn  in  hopes  of  heading  them  off  or  driving  them  should  they 
attack  the  defenceless  settlements.  There  were,  therefore,  absolutely 
no  troops  to  go  to  the  rescue  of  the  stage  party,  if,  as  seemed  beyond 
hope,  any  of  them  were  still  alive,  and  Lambert,  burning  with  eager 
ness  to  do  something  and  tormented  with  anxiety  as  to  the  fate  of 
"Brother  Floyd,"  found  himself  helpless. 

A  sergeant  and  some  semi-invalided  men  had  been  left  in  charge  of 
camp,  and  from  these  he  gathered  a  little  information,  but  not  of  an 
enlivening  nature.  The  nearest  posts  to  the  westward  from  which  help 
might  come  were  McKavett  and  Coucho,  each  over  a  hundred  miles 
away;  but  Concho,  being  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Colorado,  and  doubt 
less  warned  by  this  time  of  the  Indian  raid,  could  be  sending  cavalry 
down  the  valley  in  pursuit.  It  was  expectation  of  this,  probably,  that 
started  the  raiders  eastward  towards  the  Brazos,  where  there  were  no 
troops,  and  where,  sweeping  northward  again  in  wide  circle,  they  might 
confidently  expect  to  get  safely  back  to  their  wild  fastnesses,  leading 
the  cavalry  a  stern  chase  all  the  way.  Shrewdest  tacticians  of  modern 
warfare  as  they  are,  they  had  indeed  already  divided,  one  party  riding 


118  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

eastward  as  reported  after  swooping  down  on  the  Caliente  station,  and 
driving  some  of  the  stock  ahead  of  them,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  draw 
ing  the  Lampasas  troop  off  in  that  direction,  leaving  the  settlers  along 
the  Colorado  to  the  mercies  of  the  other  and  larger  portion  of  the  sav 
age  force.  There  was  no  use  now  in  sending  couriers  after  the  troop. 
It  had  five  hours'  start.  It  would  be  evening  before  the  fleetest  horse 
could  overtake  the  command.  Lambert  urged  the  sergeant  to  give  him 
a  horse  and  arms,  mount  three  or  four  men,  and  let  them  go  with  him, 
if  only  to  reconnoitre.  Then  some  of  the  Texans  who  had  no  families 
to  defend  might  volunteer.  But  the  sergeant  dared  not  take  the  respon 
sibility  of  disregarding  his  instructions,  and  was  wiser  than  Lambert 
in  the  wiles  of  Indian  warfare.  "  I'd  go  myself  gladly,  lieutenant," 
he  said,  "  but  orders  are  orders,  and  a  party  of  four  or  five  would  be 
surrounded  and  cut  off  and  massacred  before  you  fairly  realized  that 
an  Indian  was  near  you."  Then  Lambert  had  appealed  to  the  Texans, 
and  the  captain  had  replied  as  above;  and  then,  just  when  he  was 
giving  up  in  despair,  a  sergeant  and  two  men,  dust-covered  and  with 
horses  in  a  lather  of  foam,  rode  furiously  in  from  the  Waco  trail. 

"Is  it  true?"  cried  the  sergeant,  as  he  saw  the  unusual  gathering 
at  camp.  "  We  met  a  feller  half-way  over  to  the  Brazos  riding  like  hell, 
warning  folks  the  Indians  were  to  the  north,  and  he  said  they  had 
jumped  the  stage  this  side  of  Caliente.  It's  true  ?  And  you  haven't 
done  anything  ?  Mount  every  sound  man  you've  got,  and  give  us  fresh 
horses." 

"  My  orders  were  to  take  care "  began  his  comrade. 

"  Damn  your  orders  !  I  bring  later.  The  old  man  didn't  believe 
it,  and  had  a  sure  thing  ahead  of  him,  or  he'd  have  turned  back  with 
the  hull  outfit.  Why,  man,  that  stage — or  what's  left  of  it — ain't 
thirty  miles  away,  an'  you  fellers  sitting  here  like  so  many  dam 
women!"  And  the  trooper  flung  himself  from  saddle  at  the  word, 
and  then  caught  sight  of  Lambert's  forage-cap  and  eager  face. 

"  Get  me  a  horse,  too,  sergeant ;  I'll  go  with  you.  I'm  Lieutenant 
Lambert,  a  classmate  of  your  second  lieutenant." 

"  You'll  go  in  command,  sir,  and  we're  with  you, — six  of  us,  any 
how.  I've  heard  Corporal  Walton  speak  of  you,  sir,  often.  How 
many  of  you  fellers  '11  go?"  he  demanded  eagerly  of  the  knot  of 
Texans,  while  the  few  troopers  hustled  about,  saddling  spare  horses  and 
levying  on  the  list  of  invalid  mounts,  too  sore  or  feeble  for  a  long 
chase,  but  good  enough  for  a  thirty-mile  dash  when  it  was  life  or  death 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  119 

at  the  end  of  it.  In  an  instant  the  whole  atmosphere  seemed  changed, 
— charged  with  ozone,  electric  force,  magnetism, — something, — for  the 
snap  and  spirit  of  the  new-comer  flashed  from  man  to  man.  Lambert, 
a  stranger  and  without  authority  in  the  premises,  could  effect  nothing ; 
Sergeant  Dolan,  a  war  veteran,  a  man  they  all  knew,  and  clothed  with 
power  as  coming  direct  from  that  military  demi-god  "  the  captain,"  had 
a  dozen  men  armed,  equipped,  in  saddle  and  ready  for  business,  in  ten 
minutes.  Six  were  soldiers,  six  civilians  who  half  laughingly  ranged 
their  raw-boned  Texas  ponies  in  line  with  the  mounting  troopers,  and 
Dolan  sung  out  to  Lambert,  who  had  raided  his  classmate's  tent  for 
extra  boots  and  riding  breeches,  "  We're  ready,  sir." 

In  the  hot  May  sunshine,  at  high  noon,  they  went  loping  north 
westward  over  the  lovely  prairie,  spangled  with  wild  flowers,  the  Colo 
rado  twisting  and  turning  like  a  silver  serpent  in  its  green  bed  to  their 
left.  Five  miles  out,  a  wretched,  half-demented  creature  hailed  them 
from  a  clump  of  willows  by  a  little  stream  :  "  You're  too  late,  you 
fellers.  They  ain't  anything  left  alive  from  the  Paloma  to  the  Caliente, 
except  Indians.  The  country's  alive  with  them.  Good-by  to  your 
scalps  if  you  venture  over  that  ridge."  And  he  pointed  to  the  long,  low 
line  of  bluffs  that  spanned  the  horizon  to  the  northwest.  One  man 
stopped  to  question,  but  speedily  came  galloping  on  in  pursuit.  "  He's 
scared  out  of  his  wits.  He  can't  prove  what  he  says,"  was  the  brief 
report  to  Lambert  and  the  sergeant,  now  riding  side  by  side  at  the 
head  of  the  little  column. 

Another  hour,  and,  closer  to  the  river,  they  were  following  the 
meanderings  of  the  stage-road,  and  the  ridge  loomed  higher  ahead. 
Two  more  settlers  had  been  passed  ;  and  they  were  exaggerative  beyond 
any  semblance  of  probability.  The  Indians  numbered  thousands,  the 
dead  hundreds.  The  stage  had  been  warned  riot  to  push  on  beyond 
Paloma  Bluffs  last  night,  but  persisted  in  an  attempt  to  reach  the 
Caliente.  Colonel  Sweet  and  party  had  been  butchered  to  a  man, — 
victims  of  his  own  rash  effort  to  aid  the  poor  fellows  at  the  station,  and 
of  his  criminal  disregard  of  Texan  warnings. 

"  We'll  know  the  truth  in  an  hour,  lieutenant,  so  there's  no  use 
wasting  time  with  those  beggars.  You  can  see  the  Paloma  from  yon 
der  bluffs,"  was  Dolan's  only  comment. 

Just  at  one  o'clock,  the  foaming,  panting  horses  were  reined  in  and 
the  girths  loosened,  while  Lambert,  guided  by  the  veteran  Indian- 
fighter,  crawled  cautiously  up  the  height  in  front  of  them.  Half  the 


120  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

men,  dismounted,  were  stationed  with  ready  rifle  or  carbine  where  they 
could  command  every  approach.  Who  could  say  whether  Indians  were 
not  even  then  lurking  in  every  ravine?  A  young  Texan,  following 
the  road,  pushed  on  cautiously  to  the  point  so  as  to  scout  the  trail 
beyond.  With  drooping  heads  and  heaving  flanks  the  motley  herd 
were  huddled  in  a  little  swale  to  the  right  of  the  road,  their  holders 
eagerly  watching  the  young  leader  and  saying  few  words.  Warily 
Dolan  reached  and  peered  over  the  crest.  They  could  see  him  point 
ing, — could  see  both  him  and  Lambert  shading  their  eyes  with  their 
hands  and  staring  away  into  space, — could  see  Dolan  suddenly  clutch 
the  officer's  sleeve  and,  crouching  lower,  point  as  though  to  some 
objects  far  out  over  the  slopes  beyond.  Then  down  they  came,  eager, 
elastic,  with  gleaming  eyes  and  glowing  faces.  "  Mount,  men,  mount! 
There's  a  fight  not  five  miles  ahead  !"  sang  out  Dolan,  and,  swinging 
into  saddle,  with  Lambert  only  a  length  in  lead,  struck  spurs  to  his 
horse,  the  whole  squad  clattering  at  their  heels.  Young  Texas,  peering 
around  the  point,  heard  them  coming,  and  threw  a  long,  lean  leg  over 
his  scraggy  pony.  "  See  anything  ?"  he  hailed. 

u  Yes :  Indians  attacking  something  or  other  'bout  a  mile  to  the 
north  of  the  road  :  looks  like  a  dug-out  o'  some  kind." 

"'Tis  a  dug-out,  by  Gawd  !  /  know  the  place.  Witherell's  herd 
used  to  graze  around  there  last  year,  and  he  and  his  boys  built  that 
dug-out  in  case  they  were  attacked ;  and  maybe  the  stage  managed  to 
get  back  there.  Some  one's  alive,  else  the  Indians  wouldn't  be  fighting." 

A  cheer  went  up  from  the  foremost  men.  After  all,  then,  there  was 
vestige  of  hope.  Lambert,  eager  and  impetuous,  was  spurring  off  to 
the  open  prairie  that  lay  beyond  a  sweeping  bend  of  the  stream,  but 
Dolan  hailed  him  : 

"  Not  yet,  lieutenant,  not  yet.  There's  some  wide  arroyos  out 
yonder.  Stick  to  the  road,  sir,  till  we  can  see  the  hut.  It's  up  a 
long  shallow  valley  beyond  that  second  divide.  I  know  the  place  now." 

"  But  they'll  see  us,  sergeant,"  shouted  Lambert,  as  he  bent  over 
the  pommel  and  drove  his  rowels  wickedly  at  the  torn  flanks  of  his 
poor  brute.  "  I  hoped  to  surprise  them,  and  charge." 

"  Lord  love  you,  sir,  there's  no  surprising  these  beggars  in  broad 
daylight.  They've  been  watching  for  some  of  us  ever  since  sun-up, 
and  they've  seen  us  now.  Lucky  they  haven't  guns,  'cept  old  muzzle- 
loaders.  They've  mostly  nothing  but  bows  and  lances." 

The  horses  were  panting  furiously  now,  and  some  of  the  squad 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  121 

were  stringing  out  far  to  the  rear.  Dolan,  glancing  back,  saw  two  or 
three  men  vainly  lashing  at  their  exhausted  mounts  long  musket-shot 
behind. 

"  It  won't  do,  lieutenant :  we'll  have  to  keep  together,  or,  first  thing 
you  know,  a  hull  pack  <>'  them  yelping  curs  '11  burst  out  of  some  ravine 
and  cut  those  fellows  off, — kill  and  scalp  'em  and  scurry  away  on  their 
fresh  ponies  before  we  could  get  back  to  help.  Let  'em  catch  up,  sir. 
We'll  get  there  time  enough." 

And  so,  more  slowly  now,  as  advised  by  the  veteran  plainsman, 
Lambert  led  his  party,  the  young  Texan  ranging  alongside  and  riding 
on  his  right.  He,  too,  wanted  to  charge,  and  again  old  Dolan  pointed 
out  the  absurdity  of  it.  "  Their  ponies  are  fresh  and  nimble.  We'd 
never  cak'h  them,  while  they  could  ride  around  and  spit  us  with  their 
damned  arrows.  What  we  want  is  a  chance  with  our  Spencers  and 
rifles,  sir :  that's  the  way  to  empty  their  saddles  and  stand  'em  off. 
Look  yonder,  sir !" 

And  then,  just  as  Dolan  pointed,  three  mounted  warriors,  their 
war-bonnets  trailing  over  their  bounding  ponies'  backs, — the  first  hos 
tile  Indians  Lambert  had  ever  seen, — burst  from  their  covert  behind  a 
low  divide  to  the  right  and  went  scurrying  away  towards  the  north 
ward  hills  in  wide  detour  to  join  their  comrades.  The  road  disap 
peared  around  a  gentle  rise  in  the  prairie  half  a  mile  ahead. 

"  Out  with  you,  Lang  and  Naughton  !"  said  the  sergeant,  briskly. 
"  Go  ahead  to  that  point."  And  the  two  troopers,  well  knowing  what 
was  required  of  them,  darted  on  without  a  word,  Lambert  and  the 
main  body  following  now  at  steady  trot.  Before  the  two  thus  thrown 
in  advance  had  come  within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  bend,  a  little 
jet  of  smoke  and  fire  flashed  out  from  over  the  ridge,  followed  instantly 
by  two  others ;  both  riders  swerved ;  one  horse  stumbled  and  went 
down,  his  rider  cleverly  rolling  out  from  among  the  striking,  strug 
gling  hoofs.  "  That's  the  way  they'd  have  picked  you  off,  sir,"  shouted 
Dolan,  as  the  whole  party  burst  into  a  gallop  and  drove  straight  for  the 
ridge.  "  We'll  sweep  them  aside  in  a  second." 

They  did  not  wait  to  be  swept  aside.  Six  or  eight  painted  savages 
were  spinning  away  over  the  sward  by  the  time  the  troopers  came 
laboring  to  the  top,  and  others,  circling,  yelling,  brandishing  their  arms, 
and  hurling  jeer  and  challenge  over  the  intervening  swale,  were  in 
plain  view  along  the  opposite  slope  not  half  a  mile  away.  Beyond 
that  lay  the  scene  of  the  siege ;  and  just  over  it,  only  a  few  yards  away 
F  11 


122  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

from  the  road,  lay  two  bloated,  stiffening  objects,  at  sight  of  which 
every  horse  in  the  pursuing  party  shied  and  snorted.  There  lay,  bris 
tling  with  arrows,  two  of  the  stage  mules.  Two  hundred  yards  farther, 
the  smouldering  remains  of  the  stage  itself,  with  the  gashed  and  muti 
lated  body  of  a  man  only  a  lariat's  length  away,  greeted  the  eyes  of 
Lambert  and  his  foremost  men.  Here  Dolan  flung  himself  from  his 
horse,  tossed  the  reins  to  one  of  the  men,  saying,  "  Hold  all  you  can. 
Lead  'em  to  the  hollow  yonder,"  and,  kneeling,  drove  a  long-range 
shot  at  some  gaudily-painted  warriors  clustered  about  some  object 
half-way  up  the  opposite  slope.  A  pony  plunged  and  reared,  and  a 
yell  of  rage  and  defiance  went  up.  Man  after  man,  nearly  all  the  little 
squad  sprang  to  earth  and  opened  brisk  fire  on  every  Indian  within 
rifle-shot,  and  every  man  for  himself,  following  the  general  lead  of 
Lambert  and  Dolan,  strode  forward  up  the  gentle  ascent  towards  a 
dingy  mound,  half  earth,  half  logs,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead 
of  them,  until  Dolan  shouted  right  and  left,  "  Cease  firing  !  Stop  your 
noise !  Listen  !" 

And,  borne  down  the  wind,  faint  and  feeble,  yet  exultant,  there 
came  the  sound  of  distant  cheer,  and  the  rescuers  knew  they  had  not 
risked  their  lives  in  vain. 


XVIII. 

One  soft,  warm  evening  in  early  June  quite  a  family  party  had 
gathered  on  the  veranda  of  the  old  white  homestead  at  Pass  Christian. 
The  air  was  rich  with  the  fragrance  of  jasmine  and  magnolia ;  a 
great  bunch  of  roses  lay  on  the  little  table  beside  the  reclining  chair, 
where,  propped  up  with  pillows,  Mrs.  Walton  was  placidly  enjoying 
the  beauty  of  the  moonlit  scene  and  rapturously  contemplating  the 
stalwart  form  of  her  soldier  son.  It  was  too  much — it  was  too  soon — 
to  expect  of  a  Southern  woman  even  so  customary  a  thing  as  a  change 
of  mind,  when  that  change  involved  a  confession  of  interest  and  pride 
in  the  army  blue,  but  the  mother  did  not  live  in  all  the  broad  and 
sorrowing  South  whose  soul  would  not  have  thrilled  with  pride  and 
delight,  even  though  hidden  and  unconfessed,  in  reading  the  ringing 
words  with  which  in  general  orders  a  great  Union  leader  had  published 
to  his  troops  the  story  of  the  heroism,  devotion,  and  soldierly  skill  with 
which  Corporal  Floyd  Walton,  Troop  "  X,"  Fourth  Cavalry,  had  con 
ducted  the  defVwi:  of  the  passengers  on  the  Coucho  stage,  saving  the 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  123 

lives  of  Brevet  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sweet,  who  was  shot  early  in  the 
engagement,  and  of  two  civilians,  and,  though  himself  twice  painfully 
wounded,  maintaining  the  defence  and  inflicting  severe  loss  upon  an 
overwhelming  force  of  hostile  Indians,  until  finally  relieved  by  the 
arrival  of  a  detachment  of  troopers  and  volunteers  successfully  and  gal 
lantly  led  by  Lieutenant  I.  N.  Lambert,  — teenth  Infantry  (wounded), 
and  Sergeant  Dolan,  Fourth  Cavalry. 

Sergeant  Walton,  promoted  within  the  week,  had  been  granted  a 
month's  furlough  as  soon  as  able  to  travel,  and  with  his  arm  in  a  sling 
had  hastened  homeward,  where  within  the  forty-eight  hours  succeeding 
his  arrival  he  had  time  and  again  to  tell  the  story  of  that  fearful  day. 
They  had  got  within  five  miles  of  the  Caliente  before  discovering  that 
only  a  smouldering  ruin  remained  of  the  stage  station.  Hearing  from 
fleeing  settlers  of  the  raid,  Colonel  Sweet  had  decided  to  push  forward 
at  top  speed  to  reinforce  the  little  party  of  defenders.  The  driver  had 
urged  the  same  course,  and  the  two  civilian  passengers  had  naturally 
demurred.  Then,  when  they  found  it  too  late,  they  turned  and  strove 
to  retrace  the  road  to  Lampasas,  were  headed  off  at  dawn,  but  fought 
a  way  to  Witherell's  old  dug-out,  the  driver  and  two  soldiers  being 
killed,  Colonel  Sweet  and  the  corporal  both  shot  in  the  attempt,  and 
the  stage  abandoned  and  burned.  And  there  in  that  stifling  hole,  with 
out  water  for  the  wounded,  they  had  fought  off  dash  after  dash  of  the 
Indians;  but  their  ammunition  was  almost  gone,  and  only  two  men 
had  any  fight  left  in  them,  when  they  heard  the  welcome  crack  of  the 
rescuers'  rifles.  Even  then  the  Indians  hung  about  all  the  long  after 
noon  and  night,  and  Lambert  got  his  painful  wound  in  heading  a  little 
squad  that  ran  the  gauntlet  to  a  neighboring  spring  for  water  for  the 
fevered  wounded.  Of  his  own  conduct  Floyd  had  little  to  say  ("What 
else  did  they  expect  of  a  Walton  ?"  was  his  mother's  comment.  "  Is 
bravery  so  rare  an  attribute  in  the  Federal  army?"),  but  he  could  not 
say  enough  about  young  Lambert.  "  We  were  fighting  for  our  lives : 
we  had  to  fight,"  he  said ;  "  but  he  risked  his  to  fetch  us  water.  I  say 
that  young  fellow's  a  trump."  And  he  flashed  a  significant  glance  at 
Katesie,  for  Cousin  Bart,  with  the  imbecility  of  manhood,  had  let  that 
domestic  cat  out  of  the  bag,  and  then,  once  started,  had  told  more. 
Floyd  Walton,  under  pledge  of  secrecy,  was  held  a  spell-bound  listener 
to  Cousin  Bart  the  second  night  after  his  arrival,  when  the  rest  of  the 
family  had  gone  to  bed.  Bart  had  been  celebrating  his  cousin's  deeds 
and  rejoicing  over  his  return  to  the  extent  of  tangling  his  tongue,  but 


124  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

Floyd  could  not  trip  him  on  his  facts :  "  If  you  don't  believe  me,  you 
can  ask  the  doctor — ask  Colonel  Scroggs — or  Walton — he'll  be  hyuh 
to-mawwo,"  said  his  informant.  "That's  the  kind  of  Yank  he  is,  by 
Gawd,  suh  ;  an'  if  I  thought  they  was  maw  like  him  you  bet  I'd  re 
construct  too.  But  the  Lawd  don't  make  too  many  like  him,  nor 
young  Lambert  either." 

And  when  Floyd  finally  went  to  his  room  that  night  after  the 
loving  visit  to  his  mother's  bedside,  he  sat  long  at  the  open  casement, 
gazing  out  on  the  soft,  still  beauty  of  the  moonlit  night,  his  heart 
touched  and  thrilled  as  it  had  not  been  for  years,  and  his  pride  hum 
bled.  While  he,  wayward  and  forgetful  of  their  needs,  had  left  mother 
and  sisters  to  struggle  for  themselves,  and  had  lost  himself  in  vain 
dreaming  of  a  sweet-faced  girl  who  he  had  early  enough  been  warned 
was  not  for  him, — while  he,  reckless,  selfish,  and  weak,  had  abandoned 
himself  to  drink  and  despair  and  then  to  the  cold  charity  of  the  world, 
— it  was  an  alien  and  an  enemy,  an  uncouth  soldier  in  the  hated  blue, 
who  had  stood  between  the  stricken  and  helpless  ones  at  home  and  ab 
solute  want  and  privation.  The  good  angel  who  ministered  to  them 
in  their  distress,  even  when  stipulating  that  they  should  never  know 
whence  came  the  needed  aid,  and  who  finally  became  the  "  purchaser" 
of  the  desolate  and  ruined  place,  thereby  supplying  the  means  to  make 
them  so  content  and  comfortable  now,  was  that  creature  of  strong  con 
trasts,  Captain  Close. 

Not  until  long  after  midnight  did  Walton  leave  his  seat  by  the 
open  casement  and  seek  his  pillow ;  but  there  was  another  watcher 
whose  vigil  outlasted  his.  In  the  little  batch  of  letters  brought  by 
Cousin  Bart  from  the  post-office  that  evening  was  one  which  bore  the 
Austin  stamp  and  was  addressed  in  Lambert's  hand.  Reading  it  hur 
riedly,  Floyd  had  changed  color  and  thrust  it  in  his  pocket,  Katesie 
watching  him  with  furtive  eyes,  yet  never  trusting  herself  to  question. 
It  was  Esther  who  eagerly  demanded  news  of  their  absent  friend.  "  Oh, 
yes,  he's  getting  better,"  Floyd  admitted,  but  then  faltered.  When 
was  he  coming?  Oh,  Lambert  didn't  say.  The  doctors  probably 
wouldn't  let  him  travel  just  yet.  The  letter  was  mainly  about — other 
matters — about  Colonel  Sweet,  who  didn't  seem  to  be  doing  as  well  as 
they  could  wish.  His  wife  was  on  the  way  to  join  him.  Didn't  Lam 
bert  send  any  word  or  message  ?  No.  He  probably  wrote  in  a  hurry. 
And  that  night  Miss  Katesie  sat  with  her  dimpled  chin  buried  in  her 
pretty  round  arms,  gazing  long  out  upon  the  flashing  waters,  a  sad, 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  125 

silent,  and  deeply  troubled  girl.  There  was  something  in  that  letter 
that  concerned  her;  and  how  disagreeable  she  had  been  to  Lambert! 
and  she  just  knew  it !  and  Floyd  was  mean  and  wouldn't  tell  her!  At 
least  this  was  the  burden  of  her  song  when  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  she  threw  herself  sobbing  into  Esther's  loving  arras,  and  Esther, 
soothing  and  smiling  softly  to  herself,  thought  she  could  soon  find 
means  to  comfort  her. 

That  week  brought  other  letters,  and  a  telegram  to  Floyd,  and  he 
had  business  in  New  Orleans  and  must  go  over  for  a  day.  Lambert 
was  coming  on  from  Texas,  and  he'd  fetch  him  back  with  him.  Every 
body  could  see  he  was  feverishly  impatient  to  get  away,  and  a  sad 
smile  flickered  about  the  mother's  pale  lips  as  she  laid  her  hand  in 
blessing  on  his  head.  He  went  by  the  morning  boat  and  hastened  to 
the  levee  where  the  steamers  of  the  Cromwell  line  came  in  from  New 
York.  He  was  there  hours  before  the  Crescent  came  ploughing  her 
way  up  the  swollen  and  turbid  river;  and,  before  she  was  sighted  at 
English  Turn,  who  should  appear  but  Lieutenant  Waring  and  the 
general's  aide-de-camp  who  had  come  to  see  him  during  his  brief  con 
finement  under  guard  !  Floyd,  though  in  civilian  dress,  had  promptly 
sprung  to  his  feet  to  salute  them,  but  they  recognized  him  instantly, 
and  heartily  shook  his  hand  and  congratulated  him  on  his  recovery  and 
on  the  honors  he  had  won.  And  then  it  transpired  that  he,  too,  had 
come  to  see  if  he  could  be  of  service  to  Mrs.  Sweet,  and  Waring  sud 
denly  bethought  him  of  a  story  he  had  heard  about  the  Quitman  days. 
A  fellow  of  infinite  tact  was  Waring  when  he  chose  to  be,  and,  after  a 
few  words  of  cordial  greeting  to  the  fair  passengers,  he  winked  at  his 
comrade  the  aide-de-camp,  as  he  said  he  must  hasten  back  to  battery 
duty.  And  so,  even  when  the  sergeant  would  have  deferentially  fallen 
to  the  rear,  it  was  that  distinguished  non-commissioned  officer  who  gave 
his  arm  to  the  younger  of  the  two  ladies  in  response  to  Waring's  calm 
"  Mr.  Walton  will  take  charge  of  Miss  Sweet,"  and  while  the  mother 
was  led  away  to  the  waiting  carriage  by  the  staff  officer,  well  knowing 
that  the  mother-made  engagement  was  at  an  end,  the  daughter's  little 
hand  slipped  trembling  upon  his  arm.  What  happened  in  the  elysium 
of  that  two  minutes'  threading  of  a  dusty,  crowded,  freight-heaped  wharf 
was  not  confessed  by  either  until  two  long  years  after.  The  ladies 
went  on  to  Galveston  that  night,  and  Walton's  face  was  radiant  when, 
two  days  later,  he  came  back  home ;  and  then  he  could  have  hated 
himself  for  his  selfishness  when  he  saw  Esther. 

11* 


126  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

"Why,  where's  Mr.  Lambert?"  was  her  startled  query,  as  she  met 
him  at  the  gate.  Only  the  moment  before  as  they  saw  the  boat  splash 
ing  away  from  the  pier  had  Katesie,  with  madly  beating  heart,  run 
from  her  side  to  bathe  her  flushed  cheeks  and  hide  in  her  room  until 
she  heard  his  voice  on  the  veranda  and  the  first  greetings  were  over, 
and  then  she  would  summon  up  all  her  saucy  spirit  and  go  tripping 
down  to  meet  him  with  due  nonchalance  and  levity.  She  had  planned 
it  all,  poor  child,  rehearsed  the  little  comedy  time  and  again,  and  was 
steeling  herself  to  act  her  coquettish  rdle,  when  her  sister's  words  and 
Floyd's  reply  fell  upon  her  astounded  ears  : 

"  He  had  to  go  straight  on  home.     His  mother's  ill." 

And  not  until  then  did  Katesie  Walton  know  that  she,  too,  "  had 
surrendered." 

All  things  come  to  him — or  her — who  knows  how  to  wait ;  even 
an  absent  lover,  even  the  era  of  peace  and  good  will  between  estranged 
and  warring  sections,  even  the  end  of  a  long  story.  Another  year 
rolled  by  on  clogging  wheels  and  wrought  many  a  change  throughout 
the  sunny  South.  A  dauntless  spirit  had  drifted  from  this  to  a  better 
world.  Reverent  hands  laid  the  wasted  form  of  the  lady  mother  under 
the  grand  old  live-oaks  close  to  the  "shining  shore,"  and  the  Walton 
household,  grieving,  yet  glad  that  the  long  years  of  suffering  were 
ended,  gave  up,  against  his  vehement  protest,  the  refuge  which  the 
beneficence  of  a  stranger  had  afforded  their  beloved  in  her  declining 
days.  The  sisters  went  with  Scroggs  to  his  new  home  in  Texas,  where 
a  pioneer  railway  company  had  tendered  him  employment.  Here 
Floyd  could  sometimes  visit  them,  a  stalwart  sergeant  who  gratefully 
declined  the  offer  of  influential  men  to  procure  his  discharge,  saying 
that  he  meant  to  serve  every  hour  of  his  enlistment.  Here,  within 
hail  of  the  cavalry  trumpets  and  sight  of  the  national  flag,  there  often 
came  to  spend  the  day  a  fair-faced  girl,  a  Northern  blonde  the  very 
antitype  to  Katesie's  Southern  beauty,  and  the  blue  and  the  gray  looked 
love  and  trust  when  each  gazed  into  the  other's  eyes,  for  some  remarka 
ble  bond  of  sympathy  had  linked  Genevieve  Sweet  and  Kate  Walton 
in  close  companionship. 

Here,  too,  were  received  and  answered  letters  increasing  in  frequency, 
and  one  never-to-be-forgotten  day,  from  a  far  distant  post,  there  sud 
denly  appeared  a  very  proper  young  fellow  in  the  conventional  travel 
ling  garb  of  the  period ;  and  presently  Jenny  Sweet  bethought  herself 
that  important  household  matters  had  to  be  looked  after  at  the  garrison, 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  127 

and  Esther  had  her  marketing  to  do  and  must  do  it.  "  Of  course  Mr. 
Lambert  will  dine  and  take  tea  with  us."  (We  dined  at  one  and  tead 
at  six-thirty  in  those  days  in  Texas.)  And  so  there  was  no  one  left 
to  entertain  him  but  Katesie — and  the  cat ;  and  even  the  cat  was  very 
much  in  the  way — in  Lambert's  way,  that  is,  for  the  girl  had  the  un 
gracious  creature  in  her  arms,  covering  her  with  undesired  caresses,  the 
instant  after  Esther's  departure.  The  porch  was  vine-clad,  shaded  and 
inviting,  but  Katesie  perversely  insisted  on  the  steps  and  the  hot  morn 
ing  sunshine  :  pussy  loved  the  warmth  and  sunshine.  Lambert  sought 
to  stroke  and  caress  Sabina,  since  Sabina  was  held  tight  over  a  thump 
ing  little  heart  and  close  under  rosy  lips  and  dimpled  chin  and  soft, 
flushed  cheeks.  His  finger-tips  thrilled  at  the  delicious  proximity,  and 
Sabina  magnetically  perceived  it  and  malignantly  set  back  her  ears  and 
hissed,  whereat  he  pinched  her  ears  and  was  promptly  bidden  to  "  Go 
sit  ovuh  yawnduh  'f  you  cahnt  leave  huh  yuhs  alone,"  whereupon  he 
transferred  his  attentions  to  Sabina's  lashing  tail  and  precipitated  a 
row.  Sabina  clawed  and  struggled  ;  the  outraged  caudal  bristled  like 
a  bottle-washer;  Katesie  sought  to  soothe  with  more  hugs  and  kisses 
and  those  emotional  and  passionate  mouthings  which  women  lavish  on 
their  feline  favorites.  "  Oh,  um  Cattums  ! — um  Kittums  ! — um  Puss- 
urns  ! — um  Tweetums !"  rapturously  exclaimed  Miss  Walton  through 
her  close-pressed  lips,  as  she  buried  her  nose  in  the  fluffy  fur ;  and  this 
was  more  than  Lambert  could  stand.  With  sudden  quick  decision  he 
lifted  the  astonished  Sabina  from  the  damsel's  arms  and  dropped  her 
on  all-fours  on  the  grass-plot  below.  Then,  as  quickly,  he  seized  her 
mistress  by  her  empty  hands. 

"  Katesie,  do  you  suppose  I've  waited  all  these  weary  months  to  see 
you  squandering  kisses  on  a  cat?  Have  you  no  answer  now,  after  all 
I've  told  you,  after  my  coming  so  many  hundred  miles?" 

Her  hands  were  writhing  about  in  his  grasp,  making  every  pre 
tence,  and  no  real  effort,  at  getting  away.  "  Ah  didn't  tell  you  to 
come,"  she  finally  pouted. 

"  It's  no  time  for  trifling,  Katesie.  I've  loved  you  dearly — ever  so 
long — ever  since  the  first  time  you  leaned  this  bonny  head  upon  my 
shoulder." 

"  Ah  didn't !— Ah  nevuh  did  !" 

"  You  did  ;  and  I've  got  five  glossy  threads  of  your  beautiful  hair 
to  prove  it." 

"  It  was  all  the  fault  of  that  ho'id  shoulder-strap.     Ah  hate  it, 


128  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

and  you  'h  hateful  fo'  reminding  me  of  it !"  And  still  her  hands  kept 
writhing  in  vain,  impotent  pretence  at  struggling.  He  held  them 
with  scarce  an  eifort. 

"Well,"  said  he,  solemnly,  "they  will  never  vex  your  soft  cheek 
again,  Katesie.  I  have  worn  them  for  the  last  time." 

"  Yo'  have?"  And  now  the  struggles  seemed  gradually  to  cease, 
or  their  continuance  became  purely  mechanical,  and  the  big,  deep  gray 
eyes  looked  wistfully  up  through  their  long,  curving  lashes.  "  Whut 
— whut  foh,  Ah'd  like  to  know?"  She  didn't  quite  say  "  lahke." 

"  Well,  several  reasons  have  been  set  before  me.  Mother  is  getting 
on  in  years,  and  wishes  I  could  be  near  her,  instead  of  half  across  the 
continent  away." 

She  was  looking  up  at  him  very  solemnly  now. 

"  Ah  nevuh  could  beah  you  in  those  things — cits,"  she  said  at  last. 

"  Brava !  You  are  mastering  army  vernacular  already,  Katesie," 
he  answered,  his  eyes  twinkling.  "  And  do  you  think  you  could  bear 
me  if  I  continued  to  wear  the  old  shoulder-straps?  Ah,  Katesie,  it's 
too  late.  Here  they  are."  And,  transferring  unresisted  one  snowy 
wrist  to  contact  with  its  fellow  in  the  grasp  of  his  left  hand,  he  drew 
forth  from  an  inner  pocket  an  oblong  parcel  in  which  lay  the  light-blue 
velvet  straps,  wound  round  and  round  with  silken  threads  of  hair.  "I 
couldn't  bear  to  turn  them  over  to  any  one  but  you,"  he  solemnly  said. 
"  They  are  mine  no  longer." 

She  was  silent  a  moment.  Then  the  deep  gray  eyes  were  again  up 
lifted,  studying  with  troubled  gaze  the  soldierly,  sun-tanned  young  face. 

"  Ah'd — much  rather  you  were  going  to  keep  on  weah-ing  them," 
she  said. 

"  But  I  thought  you  hated  the  very  sight  of  them — and  the  uni 
form  ?" 

"  That  was  befo'  Brothuh  Floyd  woh  it." 

He  had  repossessed  himself  of  the  little  hands  by  this  time.  "  Then 
you  do  like  the  army  blue  a  little?  How  I  wish  I'd  known  this 
sooner !" 

"  The  army  isn't  so  bad,  now  that  some  Southern  gentlemen  are 
going  back  into  it,"  she  answered,  airily. 

"  It  would  be  still  more  attractive  with  a  certain  Southern  girl  I 
know  in  it." 

"  Ah  don't  see  how  that  would  do  you  any  good,  'f  you're  going  to 
leave  it." 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  129 

"  Ah  !  It  was  the  army  I  was  thinking  of  just  then, — not  myself. 
Thank  you  for  thinking  of  me,  Katesie."  And  now  his  eyes  were  brim 
ming  over  with  mingled  tenderness  and  merriment.  He  had  raised 
her  hands,  and,  placing  them  palm  to  palm,  stood  clasping  them,  their 
rosy  finger-tips  close  to  his  lips. 

"Ah  didn't!  Ah  wasn't!  Let  go  ma  hands,  Mist'  Lambuht." 
And  once  again  she  began  to  writhe,  simply  to  feel  his  resisting  power. 
"  Ah  wouldn't  live  like  some  o'  those  women  do  at  the  foht — -just  like 
gypsies." 

"  No,"  responded  Lambert,  demurely.  "  That's  what  a  lady  friend 
of  yours  told  me :  she  said  you  were  only  a  spoiled  little  Southern  girl, 
brought  up  without  any  idea  of  housekeeping  or  care  and  responsi 
bility." 

"  Who  dayuhd  to  say  such  spiteful  things  ?"  demanded  Miss  Walton, 
all  ablaze  in  an  instant. 

"  She  said,"  calmly  resumed  Lambert,  "  that  the  main  reason  you 
didn't  care  to  be  a  soldier's  wife,  probably,  was  that  you'd  always  been 
made  a  pet  of  and  wouldn't  know  how  to  look  after  a  brute  of  a  hus- 
baud  and  one  room  and  a  kitchen, — all  a  lieutenant's  allowed,  you  know." 

"Who  dayuhd  to  say  such  things?  It  wasn't  Genevieve ! — Ah'd 
never  speak " 

"Wait  till  I  tell  you  the  rest,"  pursued  Lambert,  calmly.  "She 
said  she  really  couldn't  see  why  I  wanted  to  marry  you :  you  were  not 
at  all  the  sort  of  girl  she'd  expect  a  Northerner  to  marry." 

"  Ah  never  huhd  such  outrageous  impudence  in  all  ma  bawn  days. 
Who  was  it  ?  Ah'll  never  speak  t'  you  again  'f  you  don't  tell  me  this 
instant.  Ah'll  never  let  you  leave  this  spot  till  you  do  tell  me." 

"  I'm  only  too  glad  to  stay.  I  was  afraid  you  might  send  me  away 
anyhow,  even  after  you  found  I  had  given  up  the  shoulder-straps — for 
your  sake, — since  Esther  told  me  I'd  find  it  hard  work  to  make  you  a 
soldier's  wife." 

"Esthuh!  She  said  such  mean  things 'bout  me?  Oh,  Ah'll  pay 
huh  off  fo'  that !  Ah  could  manage  just  as  well  as  she  could,  and  keep 
house  ev'y  bit  as  well !  Ah've  been  out  theyh  often  with  Jenny  Sweet, 
and  seen  just  how  they  managed.  Ah'd  been  watching — and  studying" 
(sob)  "  and  now — now" — with  sudden  inspiration — "  Ah  b'lieve  you're 
just  laughing  at  me!  Ah  hate  you  moh  than  evuln,  and  Ah'll  nevuh 
mah'y  you — nevu\\ — jus'  fo'  leavin'  the  ahmy  and  not  havin'  sufficient 
F* 


130  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

confidence  in  me  to  think  I  could  be  a  soldier's  wife.  Ah  might  have 
done  it — Ah  would,  perhaps,  if  you  had  stayed,  but — but " 

But  now  she  was  seized  and  strained  to  his  heart,  and  the  furiously 
blushing  face  was  kissed  again  and  again,  though  indignant  tears  were 
starting  from  her  eyes.  It  was  useless  to  struggle.  She  leaned  there 
at  last,  passive,  pouting,  sobbing  a  little,  and  striving  to  push  herself 
from  his  embrace, — but  striving  so  feebly,  so  very  feebly.  "  My  own 
little  rebel,"  he  murmured,  with  his  lips  close  pressed  to  her  cheek, 
" '  Esthuh'  did  tell  me  I'd  find  it  hard  work  to  win  you  for  a  soldier's 
wife, — did  tell  me  you  had  had  no  care  or  experience  in  the  past, — did 
say  she  thought  a  Northern  officer  would  have  fallen  in  love  elsewhere  ; 
but  she  never  said  you  were  not  fit  to  be  a  soldier's  wife,  and  /  never 
said  I  was  going  to  quit  being  a  soldier.  I  love  it  better  than  anything 
in  the  world — but  you " 

"You  did!  You  said  yo'd  done  with  the  shoulder-straps  fo'euuh!" 
And  up  flashed  the  indignant  gray  eyes  again,  and  this  brought  the 
quivering  little  mouth,  so  red  and  soft  and  warm,  too  close  for  safety  to 
his  yearning  lips.  Down  they  swooped  upon  their  prey.  "  I  didn't," 
he  whispered  as  he  held  her  close.  "  It's  the  old  strap — the  second  lieu 
tenant's — I'll  never  wear  again.  I've  won  my  bar  now, — and  my  wife." 

We  were  sitting  one  winter's  evening  nearly  two  years  later  in  the 
Lamberts'  quarters  at  old  Fort  Scott.  Kinsey  was  there  too,  and  Floyd 
Walton  with  his  bride  on  their  wedding  tour.  A  blazing  fire  of  hickory 
logs  was  snapping  on  the  hearth,  and  under  the  soft  light  of  the  shaded 
lamp  was  Katesie,  a  charming  picture  of  young  wifehood,  her  needle 
work  dropped  in  her  lap,  her  gray  eyes  following  every  movement  of 
her  husband,  who  was  declaiming  to  his  guests  and  pacing  up  and  down 
in  uncontrollable  excitement. 

It  was  the  January  of  the  "  Consolidation  Year,"  when  by  act  of 
Congress  forty-five  regiments  of  infantry  were  summarily  "telescoped" 
into  half  their  number,  and  some  hundreds  of  officers  and  gentlemen 
who  had  joined  the  regular  service  at  the  end  of  the  great  war  in  the 
reasonable  hope  of  attaining  suitable  rank  before  they  died,  found 
themselves  suddenly  bereft  of  all  hope  of  promotion  and  doomed  to 
remain  subalterns  and  file-closers  until  they  were  fifty.  It  was  the  year 
when  to  provide  for  the  superfluous  officers  of  the  consolidated  regi 
ments  of  foot  they  were  crammed  into  every  obtainable  vacancy  in  the 
horse  and  artillery, — when  incompetents  were  ordered  before  a  board  of 


CAPTAIN  CLOSE.  131 

examiners  and  given  a  chance  to  defend  their  commissions,  while — oh, 
the  black  shame  of  it ! — others,  gallant  fellows  who  had  fought  all 
through  the  war,  but  had  been  at  some  time  or  other  in  the  past  at  odds, 
personal  or  official,  with  certain  of  their  superiors,  now,  without  word 
of  warning,  without  opportunity  of  defence,  without  knowing  who 
were  their  accusers  or  what  the  accusations,  found  themselves  summarily 
dropped  from  the  rolls  and  their  places  promptly  filled.  The  needed 
reduction  by  fair  means  proving  too  slow,  the  methods  of  foreign  des 
potisms  were  resorted  to :  "  confidential  reports"  were  solicited  from 
commanding  officers,  some  of  whom,  disdaining  such  lettre-de-eachet 
business,  promptly  consigned  the  offending  document  to  the  flames  or 
"  pigeon-holed"  it  without  reply,  while  others  accepted  eagerly  the  op 
portunity  to  undermine  the  men  whom  courts  had  honorably  acquitted. 
In  some  few  instances  there  were  gentlemen  thus  disposed  of  who  never 
knew  they  had  been  accused  of  misdemeanor  until,  amazed,  they  saw 
their  names  upon  the  published  list.  Among  those  thus  given  their 
cong6  was  Brevet  Captain  J.  P.  Close,  First  Lieutenant  — teenth  In 
fantry,  at  the  moment  expecting  his  promotion  to  the  captaincy  of 
Company  "  C  ".  "  The  old  man,"  as  his  soldiers  called  him,  had  re 
turned  to  duty  after  his  six  months'  leave,  with  eyesight  permanently 
impaired,  and  had  been  received  with  cordial  and  avowed  esteem  by 
Farnham  and  Kinsey  and  with  open  arms  by  Lambert.  The  manly  fel 
lows  in  the  regiment  followed  suit,  and  they  had  done  much  to  rub  off 
the  uncouth  edges,  to  polish  the  rough  exterior,  and  so  reveal  the  value 
of  the  gem  within,  and  Close  was  plodding  contentedly  along  as  quarter 
master  of  a  four-company  post,  when  the  blow  fell.  Minor,  now  lieu 
tenant-colonel,  was  in  command  of  the  — teenth,  the  old  adjutant  and 
quartermaster  in  command  of  him.  There  was  no  need  of  asking 
whence  the  unseen  allegations  came. 

An  ill  wind  it  is  indeed  that  blows  nobody  good.  In  the  general 
" shake-up"  there  came  a  colonel  to  the  regiment  whose  first  official  act 
was  to  accept  the  resignations  of  the  two  staff  officers  and  to  appoint 
Lambert  adjutant.  "  I  wish  you  had  gone  in  for  a  commission,"  said  he 
to  Floyd,  whom  he  had  known  in  his  sergeant  days  in  Texas,  but  Floyd 
replied  that  if  this  treatment  of  Close  was  a  specimen  of  army  justice 
he  reckoned  railroading  would  suit  him  better.  Whereupon  the  new 
colonel  swore  that  if  Close  were  only  back  again  he'd  make  him  quar 
termaster  and  let  his  oppressors  see  the  other  side  of  his  story ;  but 
Close  never  came. 


13'2  CAPTAIN  CLOSE. 

With  certain  other  wronged  and  astonished  men,  he  had  gone  to 
Washington  and  pleaded  his  case  before  a  most  harassed  and  unhappy 
Cabinet  official  who  was  no  longer  able  to  undo  the  mischief,  the  Senate 
having  confirmed  the  nominations  to  the  vacancies  thus  created. 

"  He  allowed  that  he  guessed  a  few  mistakes  might  have  been  made 
'long  of  his  putting  too  much  faith  in  what  some  officers  told  him," 
wrote  Close  to  Lambert,  "but  that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  thing 
was  all  right.  I  told  him  I  hadn't  come  to  talk  about  anybody's  rights 
or  wrongs  but  my  own  :  what  I  wanted  was  the  captaincy  1  was  clean 
bilked  out  of.  He  said  he  couldn't  fix  that  anyhow.  The  only  thing 
was  to  take  a  second  lieutenantcy  and  start  back  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ladder  again.  Some  of  them — poor  fellows  who'd  been  so  long  in  the 
army  they  didn't  know  any  other  way  of  living  and  supporting  their 
families — was  fools  enough  to  do  it,  but  I'd  see  him  dummed  first,  and 
nigh  onto  told  him  so. 

"  I  guess  I've  had  'bout  enough  of  it  anyhow,  Lambert.  I  did  my 
best  for  the  government  in  the  days  when  if  we  fellows  hadn't  done 
our  best  there  mighty  soon  wouldn't  of  been  any  government  'cept 
Jeff  Davis,  and  if  this  here's  a  specimen  of  the  best  the  government 
can  do  for  a  man  that  got  plugged  pretty  full  of  lead  fighting  for  it, 
why,  next  war  that  comes  around  I  want  to  be  a  sutler  and  nothing 
else.  Lucky  I  ain't  as  bad  off  as  the  rest.  The  boys  are  doing  first- 
rate,  and  the  girls  are  well  hitched  to  very  decent  farmers,  both  of  'em, 
and  'bout  all  I've  got  to  look  after's  my  property.  They're  running 
two  railroads  through  there  now,  and  it  won't  be  long  before  I  can  be  a 
Senator  or  Secretary,  if  I  can't  be  a  sutler.  Now  I'm  going  back  to 
Spirit  Lake,  where  I'm  building  the  prettiest  home  in  the  Hawkeye 
State,  and  it'll  be  all  ready  to  welcome  you  and  Mrs.  Lambert  and — 
well — -just  as  soon  as  she  feels  like  travelling  again — and  you  must 
come  and  spend  a  long  leave  with  me.  I  ain't  got  any  children  of  my 
own,  and  my  kindred  are  kind  of  wrapped  up  in  theirs,  and  I  took  a 
shine  to  you  the  first  day  you  set  foot  in  that  old  mud-hole  of  a  camp 
at  Tugaloo.  So  don't  you  ever  fret  about  the  future,  Lambert.  You 
stood  by  me  when  I  hadn't  a  friend,  and — my  will's  all  made,  boy,  and 
don't  you  forget  it. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"J.  P.  CLOSE. 

"  P.S.  Dam  the  Cap." 


SERGEANT   CKGESUS. 


SERGEANT    ORCESUS. 


I. 

THE  colonel  was  hopping  mad.  Anybody  could  see  it,  and  every 
body  within  range  of  his  tongue  and  temper  felt  it.  Bob  Gray,  the 
adjutant,  guessed  it  before  he  got  within  sound  of  his  voice,  and  could 
swear  to  it  before  he  got  out  again.  Being  only  an  adjutant,  however, 
he  couldn't  swear  at  it,  and  so  keep  on  even  terms  with  his  chief.  He 
bottled  his  own  wrath,  as  he  did  the  colonel's  commentaries,  and  kept 
them  both  for  future  emergencies.  A  relic  of  the  vaunted  old  dragoon 
days  was  the  colonel ;  one  of  the  fast  vanishing  lot  of  hard-riding, 
hard-fighting,  and  sometimes  hard-swearing  campaigners  who  had 
learned  their  trade  under  masters  of  the  art  long  years  before  the  war. 
He  had  crossed  the  Llano  Estacado  and  camped  on  the  Mimbres  and 
chased  the  Navajoes  when  Navajoes  were  monarchs  of  the  Southwest 
ern  plains,  were  bellicose  not  bucolic,  raised  sheol  instead  of  sheep, — a 
statement  otherwise  expressed  by  Kit  Carson,  a  keen  scout  and  keener 
judge  of  aboriginal  nature,  who  said  that  when  they  were  not  raising 
hell  or  ha'r  in  equal  proportions  the  Navajoes  were  either  dead  or 
asleep.  We  were  having  campaigns  ten  times  more  thrilling  in  point 
of  incident,  ten  times  fiercer  in  point  of  fighting  and  casualties,  ten 
times  tougher  in  point  of  hardship  and  privation — and  the  food  we 
lived  on — than  those  of  the  Navajo  days,  to  be  sure,  but  the  colonel 
would  have  it  the  service  wasn't  to  be  mentioned  alongside  that  to 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  when  they  scouted  with  Kearney  or 
Fauntleroy  and  rode  races  with  the  Mounted  Rifles  at  Albuquerque  and 
Santa  Fe".  "  They  made  cavalrymen  in  those  days,"  said  he.  Then 
with  gloomy  reference  to  the  losses  of  the  summer  just  gone  by,  "  Now 
they  only  kill  'em,  and  this  set  of  slummers  they  are  sending  out  to 
recruit  us  is  only  fit  to  be  killed  anyhow.  Why  the  devil  did  you 
send  me  such  a  wooden-headed  idiot  for  an  orderly  on  this  day  of  all 
others  ?"  he  demanded  of  his  staff  officer.  "  Why,  he  couldn't  speak 
English!" 

185 


136  SERGEANT  CIXESUS. 

Now,  when  the  colonel  began  to  ask  questions  and  invite  explana 
tions  we  all  knew  that  he  had,  measurably  at  least,  blown  off  his 
wrath ;  was  beginning  to  regret  anything  sharp  he  had  said  ;  was 
penitent,  and  wanted  to  be  mollified  and  forgiven  and  taken  into 
good-fellowship  again.  Nobody  knew  this  better  than  the  adjutant,  or 
presumed  on  it  more.  At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  Bob  became 
downright  impudent.  But  his  brown  eyes  twinkled  with  fun  as  he 
stood  facing  the  colonel  and  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  speak. 

"No,  sir,  he  couldn't  speak  a  word  of  English,"  repeated  the 
colonel. 

"  We-ell,"said  Bob,  reflectively,  "  it  wasn't  a  civil  service  examina 
tion  I  was  running.  He  was  the  cleanest  man  on  guard,  and  your 
orders  are " 

"  Then  send  me  the  dirtiest  so  long  as  we  are  in  the  field,"  burst  in 
the  colonel,  impetuously.  "  What  I  want  in  an  orderly  is  just  what  I 
don't  want  in  an  adjutant, — a  man  who  can  repeat  what  I  say,  and  not 
think." 

"  Well,  anybody  ought  to  be  able  to  do  that,  sir,"  began  the  adju 
tant,  with  a  twitch  under  the  heavy  thatch  of  his  moustache. 

"  Wait  till  I  get  through,  young  man,"  interrupted  the  colonel 
again,  impressively ;  "  then  you  may  be  as  harmless  as  you  know  how. 
What  I  need  in  an  adjutant  is  one  who  can  think  and  not  say  any 
thing — except  when  I  tell  him  to.  Now,  you  sent  me  a  Dutch  doll 
that  couldn't  even  squawk  in  English.  He  called  me  names  in  some 
foreign  lingo." 

"  Well,  you  wouldn't  want  him  to  do  it  in  English,  would  you, 
colonel  ?" 

"Wouldn't?  I  didn't — Damn  it!  where  are  your  wits  this  morn 
ing,  Gray  ?  He — he what  was  it  he  called  me,  Fallen  ?" 

"  Sounded  like  O-burst,  was  all  I  heard,  sir,"  said  the  quarter 
master,  uncomfortably.  "But  Sergeant  Stein  says  that's  only  the 
double  Dutch  for  colonel." 

Mr.  Gray's  eyes  were  dancing  now.  "  I  never  saw  the  man  before 
in  my  life,  colonel,"  said  he.  "  He  came  with  that  big  batch  of 
recruits  the  other  day.  Manning's  first  sergeant  marched  him  on. 
He  looked  spick -span  neat  and  clean  and  intelligent, — by  long  odds  the 
trimmest  and  most  soldier-like  fellow  on  guard." 

"Not  excepting  the  officer  of  the  day  and  adjutant,  I  suppose," 
interposed  the  colonel. 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  137 

"  No  exceptions  whatever,  sir.  Indeed,  not  excepting  any  man  in 
the  whole  command,  from  the  colonel  up — I  mean  down.  You  were 
saying  yesterday  that  the  only  way  to  tell  real  cavalrymen  from  recruits 
was  that  we  looked  like  jayhawkers  and  they  like  Jew-store  dummies. 
Still,  I  thought  the  sight  of  a  man  clean  shaved,  with  buttons  and 
buckles  polished,  would  please  your  eyes  after  all  this  campaign's  mud, 
so  I  sent  him.  Of  course  if  he  could  only  call  you  names  in  Dutch 
I'm  sorry,  and  will  see  that  you're  properly  looked  after  next  time." 

But  even  "  Old  Tintop"  began  to  see  the  fun  under  the  sedate 
gravity  of  the  adjutant's  words. 

"  Confound  you  for  a  young  rascal !  What  have  you  been  making 
me  say,  anyhow  ?  Come  back  here,  Fallen,  and  stop  your  laughing, 

too,  sir.  You're  a  nice  pair  to  play  it  on  your  old What  do  you 

want,  sir  ?" 

Turning  suddenly,  he  addressed  a  ragged,  tattered,  hungry-looking 
party  in  hunting-shirt,  buckskin  breeches,  and  Shoshone  leggings, 
standing  attention  before  the  colonel's  "  shack," — he  had  no  tent, — with 
a  bare  brown  hand  raised  to  his  rusty  brown  carbine  in  salute. 

"  I'm  ordered  to  report  to  the  colonel  as  the  dirtiest  man  on  guard, 
sir,"  was  the  stolid  answer. 

For  a  moment  the  commander  gazed  at  him  in  wrath,  and  then  a 
light  flashed  across  his  mental  vision. 

"  Now  see  what  you've  reduced  me  to,  Gray,  you  infernal  young 
sinner.  I  sent  Stein  back  with  the  orderly  you  picked  out,  and  here's 
the  result." 

"  Well,  sir,  if  dirt's  what  you  want,  this " 

"  But  it  isn't,"  interrupted  the  colonel.  "  I  want  an  orderly,  and 
not  a  scarecrow.  Now  you  see,  do  you  ?" 

"  I  think  I  do,  sir.  Neither  a  rag  doll  nor  a  Dutch  doll,  neither 
the  cleanest  nor  the  dirtiest,  just  a  happy  medium,  one  who  can  call 
names  in  English  preferred,  not  so  swell  as  to  put  our  head-quarters  to 

shame,  nor  so  shabby  as  to  make  us  blush  for  all Well,  I  think 

I  understand  you." 

But  here  the  colonel  interposed  with  language  so  forcible  as  to  put 
a  stop  even  to  Gray's  fun,  which  he  would  stand,  as  a  rule,  longer  than 
anybody  else's.  Meantime,  the  discovery  having  been  made  that  recruit 
Schramm  was  but  a  novice  in  English,  whatsoever  he  might  be  in 
German,  that  young  soldier  was  told  by  the  sergeant  of  the  guard  to 
"  Go  on  out  of  this  and  back  to  your  buukies.  Sure  you  couldn't  tell  a 

12* 


138  SERGEANT  CR(ESUS. 

Sioux  from  a  shyster  unless  he  shot  you  in  Dutch,"  which,  being  inter 
preted,  was  understood  to  mean  that  until  he  had  mastered  the  English 
language  he  wasn't  fit  for  sentry  duty.  And  so,  much  troubled,  the 
young  fellow  went  to  Sergeant  Schultz,  a  Prussian  like  himself,  and 
sorrowfully  told  his  tale. 

Never  in  his  life  had  Private  Schramm's  blue  eyes  gazed  on  scenes 
and  soldiers  such  as  these.  Just  what  he  expected  to  find  in  the  ranks 
of  the  American  army  he  had  revealed  as  yet  to  no  one.  It  was  the 
eventful  summer  of  '76,  when,  amazed  at  the  force  and  fury  with 
which  the  Sioux  had  fought  and  baffled  the  commands  of  Crook  and 
Ouster,  Terry  and  Gibbon,  Congress  authorized  the  immediate  enlist 
ment  of  twenty-five  hundred  men  to  fill  the  gaps  in  the  four  regiments 
of  cavalry  engaged  in  the  campaign.  No  credentials  were  required. 
Eager  for  a  chance  to  get  to  the  new  diggings — the  Black  Hills  of 
Dakota — at  the  expense  of  Uncle  Sam,  swarms  of  toughs  were  enlisted 
in  the  slums  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  and  four 
weeks  later  were  deserting  by  the  dozen,  with  horse  and  equipment 
complete,  as  they  reached  the  wasted  army  in  the  field.  But  there  was 
leaven  in  the  lump.  "  That  young  feller's  a  soldier  clean  through," 
said  the  recruiting  sergeant  when  Schramm  gave  his  name,  age,  nation 
ality,  etc.,  answering  promptly  so  long  as  the  questions  were  propounded 
in  the  German  tongue. 

"  Can't  he  speak  English  at  all  ?"  said  the  recruiting  officer,  doubt 
fully.  "  Well,  what's  the  odds,  after  all,  so  long  as  he's  only  going  to 
be  scalped?  Swear  him  in."  And  so,  silent,  observant,  patient, 
Schramm  was  shipped  westward  with  the  first  lot  of  victims,  turned 
over  to  the  waiting  officers  at  the  cavalry  depot,  was  marched  out  to 
camp  and  set  toawork  grooming  a  horse  the  very  evening  of  his  arrival, 
and  turned  out  for  drill  the  next  morning,  when,  barring  a  certain 
quaint  habit  of  throwing  the  left  foot  far  out  to  the  front  at  the  com 
mand  "  march,"  and  a  queer  way  of  executing  "  about  face,"  it  was 
found  that  he  was  far  better  drilled  in  the  rudiments,  at  least,  than  the 
corporal  detailed  as  his  instructor.  The  carbine  manual  was  strange  to 
him,  but  not  so  the  sabre.  He  handled  it  like  a  master.  He  knew 
how  to  clean  and  polish  arms,  belt  buckles,  etc.,  in  a  way  that  the  few 
old  hands  at  the  post  recognized  at  once  as  "  expert."  He  was  be 
sieged  by  German  sergeants  with  queries  as  to  his  past  history,  but  said 
he  preferred  to  keep  all  that  to  himself.  Yes,  he  had  served.  No  use 
in  denying  that.  He  had  been  through  certain  cadet  schools  and  en- 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  139 

tered  a  certain  regiment  of  Hussars  ;  which  one  he  wouldn't  say,  neither 
could  they  find  out  by  writing.  It  was  nobody's  business  but  his  own, 
anyhow,  said  he.  The  United  States  had  adopted  him,  and  he  was 
now  an  Amerikaner,  a  "  Freiwilliger,"  too.  Long  before  the  weary 
march  to  the  hills  was  over  he  had  demonstrated  the  fact  that  he  was 
a  fine  horseman  and  a  good  shot.  Lieutenant  Ray,  commander  of  the 
big  detachment,  had  more  than  once  spoken  of  it ;  and  so,  when  finally 
they  reached  the  wild  romantic  hills  and  were  distributed  among  the 
regiments  there  awaiting  them,  Schramm  looked  with  wonderment  in 
his  soul,  if  not  in  his  eyes,  at  the  slouch-hatted,  rough-shirted,  unshaven 
officers,  at  the  ragged  mob  of  the  rank  and  file,  at  their  gaunt  skele 
tons  of  horses,  and  marvelled  that  his  strange  fortunes  had  made  him  a 
soldier  in  so  strange  a  service. 

Wisely  he  kept  his  views  to  himself,  making  no  comment  even  to 
the  Germans  who  were  disposed  to  be  sociable  and  to  question  him  as 
to  his  antecedents.  In  two  days  a  strong  column  marched  away, — all 
broken-down  men  and  horses  and  all  raw  recruits  being  left  behind, — 
but  with  Schramm,  evidently  an  educated  cavalryman,  riding  buoy 
antly  in  the  ranks  of  D  Troop  on  the  spirited  roan  he  had  bestridden 
all  the  way  from  the  railway.  "  Whatever  they  look,"  thought  he, 
"  these  fellows  are  mightily  at  home  on  the  frontier."  Sergeant  Schultz 
explained  that  they  always  left  their  uniforms  in  garrison  when  in  the 
field  after  Indians,  but  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  never 
lived  better  in  the  old  country  than  these  rough-looking  fellows  were 
living  now.  Already  the  ills  of  the  summer  were  forgotten. 

Whether  he  forgot  or  not,  Schramm  made  no  reply.  He  was  well 
content  with  his  rations,  for  field  appetite  is  a  wondrous  sauce,  and 
soldier  coffee  with  bacon,  beans,  "  Dutch  oven"  bread,  and  antelope  steak 
have  a  relish  in  the  keen  October  air  known  only  to  the  frontiersman. 
Schramm,  from  looking  pale,  peaked,  and  a  trifle  pathetic  when  he 
stepped  from  the  crowded  train  at  the  railway,  had  sprouted  a  fuzzy 
beard,  blistered  the  skin  of  his  cheeks  and  nose  in  the  hot  noonday 
sunshine,  seared  his  eyelids  by  intemperate  ablutions  in  alkali  water, 
and  was  making  commendable  progress  in  plains-craft  and  plains-Eng 
lish.  In  three  weeks'  scouting  down  the  South  Cheyenne,  with  the 
Bad  Lands  on  the  right  and  worse  lands  on  the  left,  he  became  so 
proficient  in  the  cavalry  art  of  pre-empting  a  good  patch  of  grass  for 
his  horse  that  his  troop  commander,  closely  watching  his  new  recruit, 
remarked  that  that  young  fellow  would  be  a  valuable  non-commissioned 


140  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

officer  some  day,  if  lie  hadn't  been  already.  Like  the  Germans  of  his 
heterogeneous  troop,  the  captain  was  of  the  opinion  that  Schramm  had 
a  history. 

One  evening,  far  down  the  valley  where  not  an  Indian  had  been 
seen  or  heard  of,  the  outlying  sentries  reported  a  bunch  of  black-tailed 
deer  in  the  foot-hills  to  the  northwest.  Lieutenant  Morgan  was  in 
command  of  the  guard,  and  his  captain  was  officer  of  the  day.  Morgan 
took  a  squad  of  three  or  four  men,  mounted,  and  rode  away  down  the 
wind,  while  a  party  of  officers  scrambled  up  the  bank  to  the  edge  of 
the  broad  prairie  to  watch  the  sport.  It  was  just  then  that  Schramm, 
his  blue  eyes  ablaze,  clicked  his  heels  together,  stood  bolt  upright,  and 
began,  coloring  even  redder  in  combined  eagerness  and  embarrassment, 
"Bitte,  Herr  Rittmeister,"  then,  desperately  plunging  into  trooper's 
English  as  he  had  heard  it  spoken,  "  Kin  I  go  along  rnit  dem  fellers 
alretty  ?"  and  as  Manning  nodded  assent,  he  saluted  with  marked  pre 
cision,  bored  a  hole  with  his  heel  in  the  alkali  dust  in  punctilious  exe 
cution  of  the  "  kehrt"  sprang  bareback  on  his  horse,  and  rode  away, 
carbine  in  hand,  after  his  trooper  comrades.  Half  an  hour  went  by, 
and  the  herd,  still  undisturbed,  continued  to  graze.  The  hunters  were 
out  of  sight  among  the  depressions  of  the  surface.  The  captain  sent 
for  his  field-glass,  and  other  officers  joined  him  and  levelled  their  binoc 
ulars  on  the  distant  quarry, — just  a  deer  family  having  a  quiet  dinner 
together  in  a  sheltered  ravine  opening  out  into  the  broad  bottom  of 
the  stream.  Presently,  one  after  another,  three  or  four  black  objects 
crawled  around  a  point.  "  Yonder's  Morgan,"  said  the  watchers. 
Suddenly  the  deer  family  tossed  high  their  heads,  then  darted  away 
into  the  hills  and  were  out  of  sight  in  an  instant.  Two  or  three  of 
the  younger  officers  set  up  a  laugh  of  derision  :  u  Pretty  hunting  that 
is !"  But  the  elders  looked  grave.  "  What  scared  them  ?"  was  the 
query.  The  black  dots  of  hunters  had  halted,  evidently  in  surprise. 
There  seemed  to  be  a  moment  of  consultation,  and  then  all  three  could 
be  seen  running  back  in  the  direction  in  which  they  came. 

"  Going  for  the  horses  to  chase  the  deer,"  laughed  young  Leonard, 
who  sneered  at  Morgan's  claims  as  a  deer-stalker. 

"  Chase  be  hanged  !     Look  there !  the  deer  are  chasing  them." 

Then  uprose  every  man  in  mad  excitement,  for  their  senior  lieutenant, 
Mr.  Ray,  had  sprung  to  his  feet  and  rushed  for  his  horse.  "  Deer, 
you  damned  fool!  It's  Indians!"  he  cried;  and,  shouting  for  some 
of  the  guard  to  follow  him,  Mr.  Ray  threw  himself  upon  his  nimble 


SERGEANT  CROESUS.  141 

sorrel  and  darted  out  over  the  prairie  to  the  rescue.  In  a  minute  half 
a  dozen  men  were  stringing  along  after  him,  while  the  alarm  sounded 
among  the  cottonwoods  and  the  herd-guards  came  driving  in  their 
excited  cavalladas. 

Meantime,  there  was  the  mischief  to  pay.  Leaving  two  men  as 
horse-holders  in  a  little  swale,  Morgan  with  three  others,  including  the 
eager  young  Prussian,  crawled  off  for  a  shot  at  the  herd.  They  were 
in  plain  view,  and  utterly  unsuspicious  of  approach  from  that  quarter, 
when,  all  on  a  sudden,  the  buck  started,  stamped,  tossed  his  crest,  and 
away  they  all  flew  up  the  grassy  ravine.  Rising  to  his  feet  to  study 
the  situation,  after  a  word  or  two  of  caution  to  his  comrades,  Morgan 
was  saluted  by  the  whistle  of  a  bullet  past  his  head, — another, — 
another, — and  each  coupled  with  the  sharp  report  of  the  rifle. 

"  Back  to  your  horses,  quick  !"  he  shouted. 

All  four  ran,  only  to  catch  sight  of  a  party  of  Sioux  lashing 
straight  down  the  slope  to  head  them  off,  while  others,  firing  rapidly, 
gave  chase  from  across  the  ravine  to  their  rear.  Before  he  had  gone 
twenty  yards  Morgan  saw  Schramm  stumble  and  fall,  face  downward. 

"  What  is  it?"  he  cried,  running  and  bending  over  him.  "  Are  you 
hit?  Here,  let  me  help  you,  man."  And  poor  Schramm  could  only 
clasp  his  hand  about  his  leg  and  plead  in  English  equally  broken, 
"  Lauf ' — Roon  !  Herr  Lieutenant.  AchGott!  I  can  it  not  make." 
Then  Morgan,  big  powerful  fellow,  cut  him  short  and  swung  the  little 
ex-hussar  on  his  back  and  plunged  ahead,  heedless  of  his  captive's 
splutter  and  struggles.  But  yelling  Sioux  and  whistling  bullets  both 
were  gaining.  Another  minute,  and  down  went  lieutenant  and  man, 
carrier  and  carried,  and  this  time  Schramm,  rolling  over  and  over, 
never  let  go  of  his  carbine,  but,  lying  prone,  levelled  it  over  a  little 
hummock,  and  sent  a  shot  square  at  the  foremost  Indian,  tripping  his 
calico  pony  in  the  nick  of  time.  Morgan  echoed  with  another. 
"  Good  boy,  Schramm  !  Give  'em  some  more,"  he  cried,  as  the  charging 
warriors  veered  and  opened  out.  Then  came  other  shots  from  the 
swale  in  rear.  Only  one  man  held  the  horses  now ;  the  others — the 
whole  squad — were  blazing  away. 

"  Check  to  your  game,  my  bucks  !"  panted  Morgan,  loading,  firing, 
and  missing  again.  "It's  little  but  lead  you'll  get  out  of  this  outfit." 
The  Indian  bullets  were  biting  at  the  turf  all  around  him,  yet  merci 
fully  flying  wild.  Schramm,  bleeding  fast,  was  paling,  yet  keeping  up 
his  fire,  wondering  how  it  was  he  could  so  rarely  hit  those  yelling,  painted, 


142  SERGEANT  CE(ESUS. 

feathered  fiends  darting  about  them  only  a  few  hundred  yards  away. 
Then,  rising  on  his  knees,  he  shouted  Prussian  taunt  and  challenge. 

"  Lie  down,  you  fool !"  yelled  his  officer,  rolling  over  to  him, 
and,  seizing  his  shoulder,  Morgan  forced  him  to  earth.  Not  a  second 
too  soon  :  an  Indian  had  sprung  from  his  pony,  taken  deliberate  aim, 
and  sent  a  shot  that  just  grazed  the  hand  that  pinned  him  down ;  and 
then  came  thunder  of  hoofs  far  out  over  the  prairie,  and  the  rush  of 
comrades  to  the  rescue,  and  then  the  Sioux,  firing  to  the  last  minute, 
whirled  away  up  the  ravine,  and  Morgan's  deer-hunt  was  over.  That 
night,  while  Ray,  with  his  troop,  was  still  out  in  pursuit,  Morgan  lay 
with  a  shot-hole  through  the  left  shoulder  at  the  bivouac  fire,  and  was 
chaffed  and  condoled  with  in  moderation  over  the  failure  of  his  veni 
son-chase,  and  took  it  all  meekly  enough.  He  had  bagged  no  game, 
had  well-nigh  lost  his  own  and  other  lives,  had  ridden  almost  blindly 
into  Indian  ambuscade,  and  yet,  in  point  of  result,  as  it  turned  out, 
that  was  about  the  best  day's  work  he  had  done  in  all  his  life. 


II. 

"If  ever  a  man  came  into  the  cavalry  who  deserved  well  of  his 
country,"  said  his  colonel,  "  it  is  Morgan."  He  was  a  good  soldier,  but 
a  bad  manager, — a  combination  far  more  frequent  than  is  probably 
known.  He  came  into  the  regiment  in  '66,  burdened  with  a  wife  and 
a  war  debt.  A  capital  trooper,  he  had  won  honors  with  the  sabre  in 
the  Shenandoah ;  had  risen  to  the  command  of  his  battalion,  and  was 
urged  to  take  a  commission  in  the  regular  army.  Famous  names 
backed  his  application,  but  he  had  been  held  to  duty  in  Texas  while 
earlier-discharged  volunteers  were  picking  up  the  plums  in  the  newly- 
authorized  regiments.  He  got  in  eventually  as  second  lieutenant 
where  his  own  lieutenants  had  gone  in  as  first.  He  had  the  brevet  of 
a  lieutenant-colonel  of  volunteers  and  the  rank  and  pay  of  a  low-down 
subaltern  of  regulars  when  he  and  his  wife  and  a  little  daughter  joined 
the  regiment  in  the  South.  When  he  came  to  the  frontier  after  five 
years  of  reconstruction  duty,  her  health  was  impaired  as  much  as  his 
prospects.  Morgan  was  supporting  an  invalid  wife,  three  children,  a 
negro  "  mammy,"  an  egregious  folly  of  a  female  nurse,  and  a  scattered 
indebtedness  of  no  one  knew  just  how  many  hundreds  or  thousands, 
all  on  a  first  lieutenant's  pay,  and  that  hypothecated.  He  loved  his 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  143 

wife  and  little  ones  ;  he  was  attached  to  his  comrades  and  his  profes 
sion  ;  but  every  month  found  him  more  dangerously  involved.  He 
had  no  relatives  to  help  him;  she  had  some  who  might,  but  didn't. 
He  wore  old  clothes,  stinted  himself  in  every  way,  yet  saw  no  light 
ahead,  and,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  would  have  thanked  God  for 
the  chance  to  end  it  all,  but  for  the  thought  of  those  helpless  little 
ones,  when  at  last  the  wife,  not  he,  was  taken.  She  had  been  prac 
tically  bedridden  for  two  years,  and  it  would  have  been  mercy  to  take 
her  long  before,  but  Morgan  couldn't  see  that.  He  wept  sorely  over 
the  cold,  emaciated  form,  then  roused  himself,  gathered  his  children 
in  his  strong  arms  and  folded  them  to  his  heart.  "  You  must  be  more 
than  ever  '  little  mother'  to  them  now,  Connie,"  said  he,  as  he  kissed 
the  white  forehead  of  his  eldest.  She  was  only  fifteen  that  spring,  yet 
for  two  years  had  been  more  woman  than  child,  trying  to  help  mother, 
trying  to  be  a  comfort  to  "  poor  daddy,"  whose  face  took  on  deep  and 
deeper  lines  with  every  month,  trying  to  be  a  teacher  and  playmate 
and  mother  all  in  one  to  sister  Lottie,  only  eight,  and  to  burly,  brown- 
haired,  uproarious  little  Billy,  the  one  member  of  the  household  whose 
spirits  were  unquenchable.  There  were  ministering  hands  and  loving 
hearts  at  the  rude  old  frontier  fort,  and  in  poor  Mrs.  Morgan's  last 
days,  far  from  her  home  and  kindred,  there  was  no  "  lack  of  woman's 
nursing,"  no  "  dearth  of  woman's  tears."  Everybody  seemed  to  go  in 
the  solemn  little  procession  when,  afoot,  they  followed  the  wasted  form 
to  its  bleak  and  lonely  resting-place  in  the  post  cemetery  out  on  the 
open  prairie. 

"  My  God  !  to  think  of  poor  Carrie's  having  to  be  buried  in  such 
a  dreary  waste  as  this !"  moaned  the  widower  that  evening  as  some  of 
his  comrades  strove  to  comfort  him.  He  had  written  to  her  relatives 
— she  had  brothers  and  a  sister  married  and  well-to-do — telling  of  the 
inevitable  end  so  soon  to  come,  intimating  that  she  longed  to  be  taken 
home  and  to  lie  by  her  mother's  side  in  the  shaded  church-yard,  but 
that  he  actually  had  not  a  cent.  The  brothers  were  very  sorry.  Both 
in  their  younger  days  had  freely  borrowed  the  captain's  tens  and 
twenties  and  lived  high  with  sister  Cad,  to  whom  the  big-hearted 
dragoon  sent  each  month  four-fifths  of  his  pay.  Pretty  sister  Lottie, 
too,  made  her  home  with  Caroline,  "  who  would  otherwise  be  so  lone 
some,"  much  of  the  four  years  Morgan  served  at  the  front.  His  pay 
was  the  main  support  of  the  family,  in  fact,  for  the  boys  were  still 
attending  school,  and  the  old  man's  business  languished  as  the  war 


144  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

went  on.  But  all  this  was  something  they  rather  wished  to  forget  in 
the  years  that  followed.  They  didn't  want  to  grow  up  into  actively 
inimical  relations  with  their  elder  sister's  husband,  yet  having  so  long 
lived  on  his  bounty,  how  could  they,  being  ordinary  mortals,  help 
learning  to  hate  him  unless  they  could  forget  the  benefits  of  the  past? 
Bob  and  Sam,  of  whom  she  so  often  talked,  were  prosperous  business 
men  now,  with  wives  and  olive-branches  and  vines  and  fig-trees  of 
their  own,  and  how  could  their  wives  or  they  be  expected  to  want  to 
have  her,  a  dark  shadow  at  the  fireside,  to  linger,  languish,  and  slowly 
die  on  their  hands  ?  Neither  brother  felt  that  he  could  stand  the  ex 
pense  of  fetching  Carrie  home.  Each  thought  the  other  ought  to  do 
it,  and  both  thought  that  Lottie  should, — that  is,  Lottie's  husband. 
But  Lottie's  husband  knew  not  the  impoverished  trooper  on  the  far 
frontier,  nor  his  wife,  nor  his  children,  and  Lottie  was  not  particularly 
anxious  that  he  should.  Her  beauty  had  captivated  the  brilliant  young 
lawyer  when  professional  business  called  him  from  Cleveland  to  Sagi- 
naw,  but  it  took  all  he  could  command  to  keep  up  the  style  in  which 
they  lived  now.  A  gay  winter  was  coming  on,  and  there  was  very 
little  interest  and  less  discussion  among  the  three  over  the  question 
which  should  succor  Carrie,  and  so  poor  Morgan's  humble  appeal  was 
fruitless. 

It  was  December  when  she  was  laid  away.  In  February  a  strong 
column  was  sent  to  break  up  the  Sioux  strongholds  to  the  north,  with 
the  not  unusual  result  of  breaking  up  several  households  at  the  fort. 
The  Sioux  lost  nothing  they  did  not  get  back  ;  the  soldiers  got  back 
nothing  they  lost ;  in  fact,  many  of  them  did  not  get  back  at  all.  The 
savage  chiefs  held  a  council  to  settle  on  the  spot  for  the  next  battle, 
and  the  soldiers  a  court  to  settle  on  the  spot  the  responsibility  for  the 
last,  which  was  a  failure.  It  was  found  that  beyond  certain  serious 
casualties  the  damages  were  mainly  at  the  hands  of  Jack  Frost  to  the 
feet  and  fingers  of  the  foemen,  though  several  officers  were  declared  to 
have  suffered  in  mind,  body,  and  estate,  and  others  in  reputation,  which 
was  odd,  in  view  of  the  fact,  as  shown  before  the  court,  that  the  ac 
cused  had  no  reputation  to  lose.  Morgan,  happily,  was  spared  all  par 
ticipation  in  this  hapless  campaign,  being  retained  at  the  fort  because 
of  recent  bereavement  and  his  motherless  children.  He  was  made 
commissary  to  help  him  out  of  trouble,  and  thereby  was  plunged  into 
worse.  When  the  command  went  out  in  midwinter  he  would  have 
been  glad  to  go  and  never  return,  but,  as  has  been  said,  for  those  little 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  145 

faces  at  home.  Another  column  was  sent  out  in  May,  and  others  fol 
lowed  that  in  June,  and  still  Morgan  was  held  at  the  fort  on  commis 
sary  duty  until  later  the  direful  tidings  flashed  in  over  the  wires  that 
Ouster  and  his  pet  troops  were  wiped  out ;  then  everybody  had  to  go. 
Morgan  strained  "  Little  Mother"  to  his  heart,  praying  God  to  guard 
and  bless  the  babies  and  bring  him  back  to  them  in  safety.  Mrs. 
Warren,  their  next-door  neighbor,  promised  they  should  be  the  objects 
of  her  tender  care.  They  had  old  Mammy  with  them  still,  but  the 
nurse  had  flitted  eastward  months  before, — one  good  riddance  at  least, 
— and  by  the  end  of  July  Morgan  was  serving  out  groceries  and  taking 
in  money  as  field  commissary.  A  column  on  frontier  campaign  with 
only  the  clothes  it  had  on  and  with  never  a  wagon  could  hardly  be  ex 
pected  to  be  burdened  with  a  safe  in  which  to  secure  the  commissary's 
funds.  Uncle  Sam  has  a  simple  way  of  reimbursing  himself  in  the 
event  of  loss :  he  stops  the  commissary's  pay  until  the  amount  is  cov 
ered,  and  the  commissary  may  stop  the  hungry  mouths  at  home  mean 
while  as  best  he  can, — that  isn't  Uncle  Sam's  business.  Morgan  had 
over  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  "  greenbacks"  in  the  lining  of 
his  canvas  hunting-coat  when  they  reached  the  Southern  hills  in  Octo 
ber,  and  not  a  cent  of  it  when  they  marched  out  on  the  15th.  The 
campaign  being  virtually  over,  all  danger,  hardship,  work,  and  heavy 
responsibility  at  an  end,  a  staff  captain  came  by  rail  and  stage  to  take 
over  the  funds  and  stores  of  the  line  lieutenant  and  charge  up  to  him 
every  cent's  worth  that  had  leaked  or  dribbled  from  the  mule-packs,  a 
species  of  charging  that  differed  from  that  expected  of  a  linesman,  in 
that  it  involved  none  of  the  perils,  yet  promised  greater  reward. — 
You  may  be  assured  this  gentleman  did  not  come  without  a  safe. — And 
Morgan,  riding  from  the  bivouac  to  the  stage  station,  a  mile  away,  the 
very  evening  of  his  successor's  arrival,  was  lassoed  on  his  horse  in 
Cinnabar  Canon,  gagged,  bound,  robbed  of  his  package  of  greenbacks, 
all  in  the  flash  of  a  bull's-eye.  Picked  up,  stunned,  ten  minutes 
thereafter,  he  could  not  describe  his  assailants,  but  certain  hard  charac 
ters  with  the  command,  some  of  the  precious  gang  of  recruits  just 
arrived,  made  off  that  night  with  their  horses,  equipments,  and  every 
thing.  Certain  civil  officials  gave  chase.  There  was  still  hope  they 
might  be  overhauled  and  the  money  captured  before  they  could  reach 
the  mining  towns.  Meantime,  Morgan,  not  severely  hurt,  was  ordered 
to  join  his  troop.  It  was  God's  mercy  that  only  an  hour  before  the 
robbery  he  had  counted  out  every  cent  for  which  he  was  accountable 
G  13 


146  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

in  the  presence  of  Old  Tintop  and  his  adjutant,  otherwise  he  would 
have  had  to  stagger  under  the  accusation  of  having  made  away  with 
the  money  and  made  up  the  story. 

In  vain  the  rough  old  campaigner  had  sought  to  cheer  Morgan  by 
assurance  that  the  party  sent  out  in  chase  couldn't  help  gathering  in 
the  robbers,  who,  with  one  exception,  were  strangers  to  the  frontier. 
Morgan  groaned  in  spirit.  "  No,  colonel,  it  is  useless.  Luck  has  been 
dead  against  me  ever  since  we  furled  the  Wolverine  guidons  and  I  joined 
the  regulars.  That  money  will  never  be  found,  and  I  am  eight  hundred 
dollars  more  in  debt  than  I  was  a  month  ago,  when  it  was  all  I  could 
stagger  under.  It's  only  worse  and  more  of  it."  And  here  this  forty- 
year-old  fatalist  turned  away  and  buried  his  bearded  face  in  his  hands. 

And  now,  a  few  weeks  later,  with  a  hole  in  his  shoulder  and  fever 
in  his  veins,  Mr.  Morgan  was  being  borne  along  homeward  in  a  mule- 
litter,  hopeless  and  sick  at  heart,  totally  unconscious  of  the  fact  that 
one  man  at  least  in  the  long  dusty  column  looked  up  to  him  with  an 
enthusiastic  gratitude,  even  while  looking  down  on  him  from  the 
saddle.  Schramm's  right  leg  had  been  shot  through  midway  between 
ankle  and  knee,  but  the  fracture  was  simple,  and  the  wounded  limb  was 
skilfully  dressed,  set  in  splints,  and  Schramm  rode  in  a  litter  a  week 
or  two,  as  ordered,  then  his  Teutonic  prayers  took  effect  on  the  "  Herr 
Wundarzt,"  and  he  was  allowed  to  swing  the  leg  over  the  handsome 
roan  his  captain  had  promised  he  should  have  again  as  soon  as  he  was 
able  to  straddle  the  beast  and  settle  the  question  why  he  had  named 
him  Bredow.  We  had  little  or  no  time  for  war-history  in  the  cavalry 
in  those  days. 

Morgan  could  not  but  note  how  affectionately  Schramm's  blue  eyes 
would  beam  upon  him  and  how  full  of  anxious  sympathy  were  his  fre 
quent  inquiries  as  to  whether  there  were  not  something  he  could  do  for 
the  Herr  Lieutenant.  They  sent  the  two,  with  others,  in  together  to 
the  old  fort  on  the  railway,  and  Schramm,  whose  wound  was  the  more 
serious,  was  much  the  sooner  recovered,  and  bustling  around  as  though 
nothing  had  happened,  while  the  veteran  lieutenant,  whose  hurt  was 
slight,  seemed  unable  to  rally.  There  are  wounds  that  sap  the  vital 
forces  worse  than  knife  or  bullet.  Morgan  was  fretting  himself  to 
death.  He  broke  down  utterly  when  Old  Tintop,  a  month  later,  came 
in  to  see  him  on  his  arrival  at  the  post. 

"  What  can  I  do,  colonel  ?"  he  moaned.  "  I  am  too  old  to  resign 
and  try  to  find  employment  at  home.  There's  no  room  for  crippled 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  147 

dragoons  there.  Yet  ray  creditors^are  hounding  me,  my  pay  may  be 
stopped  any  minute  to  settle  this  commissary  business,  and  then  what 
will  become  of  my  children  ?" 

It  was  too  much  for  Tintop.  He  had  in  his  desk  that  moment  the 
fatal  paper  received  from  Washington.  It  was  all  very  well  for  the 
board  of  survey  and  the  department  commander  to  exonerate  Lieuten 
ant  Morgan  from  blame,  but  the  watch-dogs  of  the  treasury  couldn't 
allow  him  to  drop  that  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  There  was  no 
doubt  that  he  was  robbed.  The  robbers,  in  fact,  deserting  recruits  en 
route  to  the  mines,  were  easily  overhauled  by  experienced  frontiersmen 
who  "  lit  out"  in  pursuit  the  moment  the  affair  was  heard  of.  It  was 
scandalous  on  the  part  of  "  tenderfoot  toughs"  from  the  far  East  to  rob 
an  army  disbursing  officer — and  expect  to  get  away  with  the  swag. 
Buckskin  Joe,  Lopsided  Pete,  and  other  local  celebrities  lost  little  time 
in  overhauling  the  Bowery  gang  and  recovering  such  valuables  as  they 
had ;  but  who  was  to  overhaul  Joe  and  Pete  ?  The  auditor  said  Mr. 
Morgan  ought  to  have  kept  that  money  in  the  safe.  The  department 
comiuander,  striving  to  aid  a  good  soldier,  pointed  out  that  they  didn't 
carry  safes  when  on  Indian  campaign  ;  if  they  did,  they  would  even  less 
frequently  catch  the  Indians.  But  it  availed  nothing.  What  did  the 
Treasury  Department  care  whether  Indians  were  caught  or  not  ?  Mr. 
Morgan  was  held  to  have  violated  the  spirit  of  his  instructions  in  that 
he  went  to  Captain  Stone  in  town  to  turn  over  the  money,  instead  of 
waiting  for  Captain  Stone  to  come  to  him.  Then  the  general  pointed 
out  that  Morgan  was  ordered  to  march  with  the  command  at  daybreak, 
and  therefore  had  to  turn  over  the  money  that  night.  But  the  bureau 
officials  couldn't  see  it.  Let  Lieutenant  Morgan  get  a  bill  of  relief 
through  Congress,  said  the  pragmatic  official,  well  knowing  that  such 
bills  are  the  outcome  of  influence,  not  innocence.  The  colonel  went  to 
the  office,  and  by  way  of  comforting  himself  for  the  weakness  which 
prompted  him  to  blow  his  nose  and  wipe  his  eyes  very  often  before 
leaving  Morgan,  and  to  kiss  Connie  and  Lot  several  times  after,  pitched 
into  Mr.  Gray,  his  perennial  chopping-bJock,  and  Gray,  finding  meek 
ness  and  silence  not  what  was  needed,  fired  back.  They  exchanged 
volleys  a  minute,  Gray  having  all  the  advantage  of  sense  and  the 
colonel  of  sound,  and  ended,  as  usual,  by  the  old  man  saying  he 
wouldn't  give  a  tinker's  dam  for  an  adjutant  he  couldn't  pitch  into 
when  he  had  to  pitch  into  somebody,  or  that  couldn't  talk  back.  "  I'm 


148  SERGEANT  CR(E8US. 

all  broke  up  about  Morgan.  Canjt  we  do  something  to  pull  him  out 
of  his  hole?" 

So  they  wrote  letters,  did  the  officers,  to  Morgan's  wife's  relatives, 
setting  forth  how  brave  and  deserving  and  unfortunate  he  was,  and 
that  something  must  be  done  for  those  children.  It's  all  well  enough 
in  the  eyes  of  one's  wife's  relatives  to  be  brave  and  deserving,  but  they 
have  no  use  for  a  man  who  is  unfortunate.  In  fact,  if  he  is  only  for 
tunate  they  care  very  little  how  brave  he  may  be,  and  less  for  his 
deserts.  Robert  answered  the  colonel's  missive,  but  the  others  did 
not.  Rob  said  they  had  already  been  put  to  much  expense  on  their 
sister's  account, — which,  as  they  wore  no  mourning  and  published 
no  notice  in  the  papers  at  the  time  of  her  death,  was  an  out-and-out 
whopper.  He  furthermore  said  if  something  had  to  be  done  for  those 
children  to  go  ahead  and  do  it, — which  was  simply  indecent.  Tintop 
had  a  copy  made  and  sent  it  to  a  classmate,  a  distinguished  officer  of 
engineers  whose  office  was  in  Detroit,  and  whose  duties  made  him  well 
known  in  influential  circles,  and  the  colonel  made  inquiries  and  sent 
reports.  The  boys  were  well-to-do,  in  a  paying  business,  both  of 
them ;  and  as  for  Aunt  Lottie,  she  wasted  more  money  in  six  months 
than  would  clothe,  feed,  and  comfort  her  army  nieces  and  nephew 
as  many  years.  "  But,"  said  the  engineer,  "  I  fancy  her  husband 
owes  very  much  more  than  Mr.  Morgan,  and  the  crash  may  come  any 
day." 

But  what  Tintop  could  not  do  through  Morgan's  wife's  relatives  he 
brought  about  in  other  ways.  The  engineer  colonel  knew  prominent 
business  men  who  were  comrades  of  Morgan's  in  the  old  Wolverine 
brigade,  famous  at  Gettysburg,  Winchester,  Five  Forks,  and  Appo- 
mattox.  Some  had  amassed  wealth,  many  were  prominent,  all  were 
sympathetic,  and  when  they  took  hold  it  was  with  a  vim.  Meantime, 
however,  valuable  time  was  lost,  and  poor  Morgan  was  breaking  down 
under  his  load.  Meantime,  too,  ministering  angels,  army  wives  and 
mothers,  none  so  wealthy  that  their  charity  entailed  no  sacrifice,  none 
so  poor  that  it  could  not  and  did  not  help,  moved  by  that  boundless  pity 
and  sympathy  which  motherless  little  ones  excite,  were  lending  helping 
hands  about  the  cheerless  quarters  and  bringing  grateful  tears  and 
smiles  to  Connie's  anxious  face.  Mrs.  Warren,  Mrs.  Woods,  and  others 
had  laid  their  matronly  heads  together  and  organized  a  committee  of 
ways  and  means.  Of  course  nothing  could  be  done  to  excite  Morgan's 
suspicions  or  wound  his  pride.  Connie,  too,  was  old  beyond  her  years 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  149 

and  shrank  from  what  might  look  like  dependence,  but  she  was  too 
young  to  manage  household  expenses.  Old  Mammy  had  none  but  ex 
travagant  ideas,  as  befitted  the  retainer  of  a  good  old  Southern  family, 
and  the  father  was  practically  helpless.  It  was  at  this  stage  of  the 
proceedings  that  Fagan,  the  veteran  striker  who  had  long  been  on 
domestic  duty  for  the  Morgans,  in  accordance  with  the  system  then  in 
vogue,  was  taken  down  with  acute  rheumatism  and  went  to  hospital, 
and  that  Private  Schramm,  who  for  days  had  never  missed  an  oppor 
tunity  of  inquiring  for  the  lieutenant  and  occasionally  lending  a  help 
ing  hand,  came  suddenly  into  prominence.  Somebody  had  to  be  de 
tailed  as  Morgan's  "striker."  There  were  always  quite  a  number  of 
the  enlisted  men  who  were  eager  to  be  placed  on  such  duty,  thereby 
earning  five  dollars  a  month,  living  on  better  rations,  escaping  guard 
duty,  drills,  and  roll-calls,  and  having  only  to  bring  in  wood  and  water, 
black  boots,  clean  equipments,  etc.  Schramm  was  reserved,  temperate, 
studious,  a  model  young  soldier,  daily  acquiring  more  thorough  knowl 
edge  of  military  duty  and  of  the  English  language  as  spoken  by  the 
blue-coats  on  the  border.  Two  or  three  times  the  doctor,  finding  him 
hovering  about  the  quarters,  had  sent  him  over  to  the  hospital  for 
medicine,  or  the  like,  and  Schramm,  saluting  with  Teutonic  precision, 
had  obeyed  every  order  with  soldierly  alacrity.  More  than  once  when 
Fagan,  groaning  and  coughing  and  wheezing  in  the  keen  wintry  air, 
seemed  unable  to  bear  his  burden  of  firewood  into  the  house,  Schramm 
had  laughingly  lent  his  aid,  and  one  evening  he  came  suddenly  upon  the 
tall,  slender,  fragile  form  of  Connie  staggering  into  the  kitchen  door, 
heavily  laden  with  logs.  With  one  spring  the  Prussian  was  at  her 
side,  the  blue  eyes  kindling,  and  he  who  hitherto  had  never  presumed 
to  address  the  "gnadige  Fraulein"  except  with  hand  at  temple  and 
heels  aclick,  briskly  dispossessed  her  of  her  load,  and  bore  it  into  the 
sitting-room,  where  Lot  and  Billy  were  squabbling  over  their  blocks  in 
the  wintry  gloaming,  and  Connie  blushed  to  her  temples  as  she  thanked 
the  stalwart  young  soldier,  once  more  standing  erect  and  brushing  the 
bark-dust  from  his  overcoat. 

"  Father  sent  Fagan  to  town,"  she  explained,  "  and  he  should  have 
been  home  an  hour  ago.  We  are  so  much  obliged  to  you,  Schr-r-r-amm." 
And  Schr-r-r-amm  seemed  so  hard  a  word  to  say  that  she  blushed  still 
more,  hesitated,  and  stammered, — she  who,  garrison-bred,  had  never 
heard  the  private  soldier  addressed  in  any  other  way. 

It  was  that  evening,  later,  that  old  Fagan  declared  himself  all 

13* 


150  SERGEANT  CECESUS. 

broke  up,  which  meant  just  the  opposite,  that  he  had  broken  down  and 
must  quit  work.  Mrs.  Turner,  a  light-hearted  and  thoughtless  young 
matron,  was  sitting  with  Connie  at  the  moment. 

"He'll  go  to  hospital,  won't  he?"  she  said.  "Then  how  much 
better  it  will  be !  Captain  Manning  will  let  you  have  Schramm." 
But,  to  Mrs.  Turner's  surprise,  Connie  promptly  declared  she  would 
not  have  Schramm. 

"  Why-y,  I  thought  he  was  so  devoted  to  your  father, — so  nice  in 
every  way." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Connie,  with  decision  ;  "  he  is  devoted  to  father, 
and  he  is  simply  altogether  too  nice  to  be  put  on  any  such  duty." 

"  Did  you  ever  know  so  strange  a  child  ?"  said  Mrs.  Turner,  telling 
of  the  conversation  a  little  later.  "  She  fairly  put  me  down  as  though 
I  were  a  chit  of  fifteen — like  herself." 

"  Ye-es,  instead  of  being  old  enough  to  be  her  mother,"  suggested 
a  fair  rival,  mischievously,  and  Mrs.  Turner  bridled,  but  said  no  more. 

But  Manning,  too,  fell  into  error.  Informed  by  his  first  sergeant 
at  tattoo  that  Fagan  was  down  sick  and  the  lieutenant  without  a  striker, 
in  all  kindness  and  desire  to  help  he  asked  who  would  be  the  best  man 
to  send,  and  the  sergeant  promptly  answered,  "Schramm.  Schramm 
was  all  the  time  over  there,  and  doubtless  he  would  be  glad  to  take  the 
detail."  Manning  hesitated  a  moment.  He  had  other  views  for  this 
young  soldier,  whose  usefulness  in  the  troop  could  become  very  great 
as  soon  as  he  mastered  a  little  more  English.  But  he  called  him  forth 
with.  Schramm  was  among  his  comrades,  awaiting  the  assembly 
signal,  and,  summoned  abruptly,  he  stood  attention  in  a  foot  of  snow 
and  answered,  "Zu  Befehl,  Herr  Rittrneister,"  before  he  could  catch 
himself  and  blurt  out  "  Ca-Capitan."  His  gloved  hand  remained, 
Prussian  fashion,  in  salute. 

"  Schramm,  I  hate  to  lose  you  from  the  troop,  but  would  you  care 
to  go  to  Lieutenant  Morgan's  as  orderly  ?" 

"  I,  Herr  Rittmeister  ?" 

The  roll  of  the  r's  was  almost  like  that  of  a  drum.  The  blood 
mounted  to  his  cheeks.  He  stammered,  looked  utterly  bewildered, 
stumbled,  and  between  embarrassment  and  sense  of  subordination  stood 
meekly  mute. 

"  Don't  you  want  to  go  ?"  asked  Manning. 

"  Bitte,  Herr  Capitan,  unless  I  haf  it  to  do." 

"Oh,  no,  by  no  means.     I  supposed  you'd  really  like  it,"  said 


SERGEANT  CRCESVS.  151 

Manning.  "I  would  much  rather  you  didn't.  That's  all."  And 
Schramm  nearly  fell  over  himself  in  the  effort  to  salute  and  face  about 
in  a  foot-deep  drift  and  escape  before  the  Herr  Rittmeister  might 
change  his  mind.  "Whom  can  we  send,  sergeant?  I  want  a  good 
steady  man,  for  Mr.  Morgan  is  far  from  mending." 

"  Well,  sir,  there's  Penner :  he  ain't  good  for  nothing  else." 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  Penner,  a  mild-mannered,  moony  young 
barbarian,  went  gladly  to  duties  with  which  he  was  far  more  familiar 
than  the  grooming  of  frolicsome  steeds  and  the  tramping  of  lonely 
sentry-posts.  And  Schramm,  redoubling  the  assiduity  of  his  atten 
tion  to  military  duties,  none  the  less  kept  up  his  frequent  visits  to  the 
Morgans'  quarters,  modestly  presenting  himself  at  the  rear  door  and 
laboriously  inquiring  how  the  Herr  Lieutenant  had  passed  the  night 
and  whether  he  could  do  aught  to  serve  him  during  the  day.  Penner 
was  soon  sufficiently  domesticated  to  answer  these  queries  himself,  but 
not  infrequently  Constance  carne  to  answer  the  soldier's  knock,  and 
then  at  sight  of  the  gnadige  Fraulein  Schramm's  manner  would  become 
simply  extravagant  in  precision  and  deference.  Within  the  week  after 
he  declined  the  place  the  soldiers  were  saying  Schramm  "  wouldn't  be 
dog-robber,  but  was  bossing  Penner's  job  all  the  same."  And  certain 
it  was  that  Peuner  owed  much  of  his  usefulness  to  the  suggestions  of 
his  better-informed  countryman.  Meantime,  Mrs.  Warren  and  Mrs. 
Woods  were  doing  all  that  lay  in  their  power  to  help  about  the  house, 
and  another  loving  woman,  who  devoted  two  hours  each  morning  to 
the  lessons  of  her  own  little  ones,  had  induced  Constance  to  send  Lot 
and  Billy  to  her  as  recruits  in  the  kindergarten,  and  the  officers, 
dropping  in  each  evening  to  cheer  the  old  man  up  a  bit,  still  striving 
to  hold  from  him  the  fact  that  the  Treasury  Department  had  proved 
deaf  to  all  martial  appeals  in  his  behalf,  were  made  glad  one  bitter 
evening  by  a  despatch  from  the  Wolverine  Senator.  The  old  Michigan 
brigade  had  still  "  a  pull,"  and  Tintop  himself  went  whistling  down 
the  line  to  tell  Morgan  the  glad  news  that  he  had  friends  at  court. 

"  Bill  of  relief  for  Morgan  will  be  presented,"  wired  the  magnate. 
"  Meantime,  no  stoppage  allowed." 

"Who  could  have  fixed  this  for  me?"  asked  Morgan,  gratefully, 
with  glistening  eyes. 

"  Oh,  your  friends  at  home  did  it,"  answered  Tintop,  promptly, 
with  pardonable  thought  of  how  much  stirring  the  friends  at  the  front 
had  first  to  do.  "  What  they  ought  to  stir  about  now  is  to  help  you  out 


152  SERGEANT  CR(ESUS. 

with  these — these — other  claims;  I  don't  mean  pay  them  for  you,  of 
course, — you  wouldn't  want  them  to  do  that, — but  fix  it  so  that  you 
could  capitalize  'em  someway ;  raise  a  little  fund  that  you  could  repay 
at  so  much  a  month  with  six  per  cent,  interest,  and  then  wipe  out  all 
these  pressing  things." 

Poor  Morgan  !  his  first  thought  had  been  that  now  he  could  order 
a  suitable  head-stone  for  Carrie's  lonely  grave. 


III. 

The  winter  went  out  in  storm  and  bluster.  The  springtide  set  in 
with  reluctant  flow.  The  prairie  wastes,  swept  clean  by  furious  gales 
in  March,  rerobed  in  glistening  white  in  April,  peeped  forth  through 
ragged  rents  in  their  fleecy  mantle  at  the  soft  touch  of  the  south  wind, 
then,  lulled  by  the  plash  of  warm  summer  shower,  went  to  sleep  one 
evening  late  in  May,  still  thinly  veiled  in  white,  and  when  the  rosy 
breath  of  wakening  dawn  stole  faintly  over  the  grassy  billows,  lo !  all 
in  a  night  the  face  of  nature  had  changed,  and  the  foot-hills  met  the 
sunshine  clothed  in  fairest,  freshest  green.  Who  can  welcome  spring 
as  could  the  exiles  of  the  old  days  on  the  frontier?  How  those  fair 
women,  those  restless  little  ones,  seemed  to  glow  and  gladden  after  the 
long,  long  months  of  seclusion  when,  snow-bound,  they  were  penned 
within  the  stockade  or  limited  to  the  sentry-lines  of  some  straggling 
prairie  post !  Now  swarming  forth  like  bees  they  came  to  greet  the 
sunshine,  the  softening  air,  the  tiny,  shrinking  little  flowers  trembling 
in  the  breeze  along  the  southward  slopes,  and  one  exquisite  morning 
late  in  May,  perched  on  the  very  verge  of  the  steep  bluff  overlooking 
the  stream,  Constance  Morgan  had  flung  to  the  winds  her  rippling 
mane  of  auburn  hair  and  stood  stretching  forth  a  pair  of  long,  slender 
arms,  encased  in  very  shabby  and  shining  serge,  as  though  welcoming 
the  first  sight  of  the  distant  lowlands, — the  broad,  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Mini  Ska.  All  the  long  winter  she  had  borne  on  her  white 
shoulders  the  cares  of  an  army  home,  and  that  a  home  without  a 
mother.  Loving  hearts  and  hands,  it  is  true,  were  there  to  aid  her. 
Morgan's  devotion  to  his  invalid  wife  during  her  two  years  of  mar 
tyrdom  and  his  grief  over  her  loss  were  matters  that  had  won  deep 
sympathy  even  in  a  crowded  garrison  bent  on  getting  all  the  enjoy- 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  153 

ment  possible  out  of  their  few  months  of  home  life.  All  the  previous 
summer,  spring,  and  fall  officers  and  men  of  the  cavalry,  at  least,  had 
spent  in  exciting  campaign,  and  no  man  could  tell  how  soon  the  order 
would  come  returning  them  once  more  to  the  field,  leaving  the  wives 
and  little  ones  to  watch  and  pray.  "  Make  hay  while  the  sun  shines" 
seemed  to  be  the  social  axiom  of  the  cavalry  in  those  days.  Enjoy 
the  too  brief  days  as  best  ye  may,  for  soon  the  summer  will  come,  when 
all  men  must  work  at  their  appointed  trade,  and  seven  months  out  of 
twelve  and  sometimes  more  it  meant  separation  from  the  loved  ones 
within  the  guarded  limits  of  the  forts,  a  separation  that,  in  too  many 
cases,  proved  but  the  entrance  upon  that  which  on  earth,  at  least,  is 
final.  There  were  music  and  dancing,  play-acting  and  feasting,  there 
fore,  through  the  winter  at  Ransom,  and  frequent  exchange  of  jovial 
hospitality  witli  the  big-hearted  townsfolk  over  and  away  at  the  trans 
continental  road,  but  there  wasn't  a  day  when  somebody,  from  Tintop 
down,  wasn't  sure  to  drop  in  and  have  a  chat  or  a  game  of  checkers, 
or  in  the  evening  a  hand  at  whist,  with  Morgan,  who  sat  up  in  an  easy- 
chair  and  was  made  as  comfortable  as  willing  hearts  and  hands  could 
devise,  and  Mrs.  Vinton  not  only  taught  Lot  and  Billy  as  she  taught 
her  own,  but  time  and  again  sent  them  home  in  garments  newly 
fashioned,  but  with  pardonable  mendacity  represented  to  be  something 
she  had  that  didn't  fit  her  daughter  or  that  her  little  Jim  had  out 
grown.  Connie's  clear  eyes  saw  through  the  stratagem,  and  her  soft 
red  lips  quivered  as  she  kissed  the  fair  round  cheek  of  the  loving 
woman  who  so  well  knew  how  to  bless  and  comfort,  yet  rob  the  act  of 
every  hint  of  charity.  And  strangely,  too,  Connie's  scant  supply  of 
commissary  was  eked  out  by  many  a  dainty  sent  to  Morgan's  door  from 
somewhere  along  the  line.  No  one  ever  gave  a  dinner,  or  luncheon, 
or  supper  party,  that  long  winter,  without  a  remembrance  of  some  kind 
for  those  motherless  kids,  oftentimes  including  some  comforting  bever 
age  for  old  Morgan  himself.  Even  the  sutler,  whom  the  men  damned 
for  a  skinflint,  found  means  to  "  chip  in"  unknown  to  Morgan,  who 
didn't  at  all  like  him,  and  the  surreptitious  dozens  of  stone  bottles  of 
stout,  glass  dittoes  of  Bass  and  Budweiser,  that  had  been  smuggled  in 
by  the  back  gate  during  the  last  year  of  Mrs.  Morgan's  illness,  never 
found  their  way  on  the  bill.  He  had  sent  Connie  at  Christmas  a  dress 
of  soft  black  cashmere  over  which  the  child's  womanly  eyes  had  glis 
tened,  and  which,  impulsively,  she  had  taken  to  her  father's  room, 
opening  it  before  him  and  saying,  "  Isn't  it  lovely  ?  Wasn't  it  just 
G* 


154  SERGEANT  CECESUS. 

lovely  of  him?"  And  then  she  was  brought  to  sudden  realization  of 
this  rancor  towards  the  trader  by  the  flush  that  overspread  Morgan's 
face  and  the  heavy  frown  between  his  eyes. 

"Connie,  child,  you  shall  have  it,  of  course;  you  need  it;  but  we 
can't  take  presents  from  Curran.  He  must  put  it  on  the  bill,"  he  said. 
But  neither  on  Connie's  slender  back  nor  Curran's  bulky  bill  did 
those  dress-goods  ever  appear.  She  sent  him  a  misspelled,  grateful 
little  note,  saying  how  it  touched  them  all  that  he  should  have  so 
kindly  remembered  her,  but  papa  was  "  inflexable"  in  his  views  about 
accepting  "  presants"  from  friends  they  might  never  be  able  to  repay, 
and  honest  Curran, — honest  at  least  in  his  desire  to  do  a  kindness  to  the 
tall  slip  of  a  girl  with  the  big  brown  eyes  and  auburn  hair  that  made 
him  think,  he  sometimes  said,  of  a  colleen  he'd  lost  long  years  before, — 
honest  Curran  mistook  her  meaning  entirely,  thought  her  words  Mor 
gan's,  and,  mindful  of  some  caustic  comments  the  big  lieutenant  had 
made  anent  sutlers'  checks  he  sought  to  collect  at  the  pay-table  several 
years  before,  had  all  his  Irish  aroused  and  was  made  fighting  mad. 
"  I'll  sind  him  a  resated  bill,  bedad,  and  cut  his  acqueentance  intirelee," 
said  Curran  that  night  in  relating  the  incident  to  some  of  the  boys 
in  the  club- room,  whereupon  that  ne'er-do-well  and  scapegrace  Briggs 
promptly  besought  him  to  take  like  cognizance  of  the  first  thing  he, 
Lieutenant  Briggs,  might  say,  as  he  despaired  otherwise  of  ever  squaring 
his  account. 

But  the  incident  bore  its  weight  of  woe  to  Connie,  despite  the 
merriment  it  gave  the  boys.  Acting  under  the  advice  of  his  colonel 
and  his  friends,  Morgan  was  diligently  turning  over  to  the  adjutant 
fifty  dollars  a  month  of  his  scanty  pay  in  order  that  critics  and  creditors 
alike  might  know  he  was  doing  all  a  poor  devil  of  a  broken-down 
lieutenant  could  do  to  pay  his  debts  without  absolutely  starving  his 
household.  The  balance  went  to  Connie,  and  with  this  she  was  ex 
pected  to  feed,  clothe,  and  comfort  the  family,  pay  the  cook,  laundress, 
and  striker.  Morgan  had  no  life-insurance,  and  in  those  days  could 
get  none.  Curran  was  one  of  his  heaviest  creditors,  and  Curran  had 
been  perfectly  willing  not  only  to  wait,  but  to  open  his  storehouse  or 
purse-strings  still  wider  for  the  struggling  fellow's  benefit.  Only  so 
many  dollars  a  month  could  be  parcelled  out  for  the  butcher  and  baker, 
the  grocer  and  the  commissary,  and  Connie  kept  her  books,  and,  aided 
by  her  lady  friends,  kept  her  accounts.  But  over  and  above  all  these 
necessary  expenses  were  certain  dainties  and  luxuries  which  Curran 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  155 

had  authorized  black  Mammy  to  draw  for  at  the  store  whenever  the 
supply  was  getting  low,  and  Morgan,  insisting  now  on  auditing  the 
accounts,  could  find  no  such  items  on  the  bills  rendered,  and  the  truth 
came  out.  Curran  went  off  East  to  buy  goods  just  then,  and  Morgan 
did  not  write  the  letter  his  heart  was  pouring  out  when  he  learned  how 
in  secret  the  rough  fellow  had  been  so  long  his  benefactor,  but  he  for 
bade  all  such  traffic  in  future,  and  Lot  and  Billy  howled  for  oranges 
and  raisins  in  vain.  Christmas  found  their  little  stockings  filled. 
Many  an  army  mother,  planning  for  her  own  brood,  had  remembered 
the  motherless  in  the  humble  quarters  down  the  row.  But  no  one 
could  tell  whose  hand  had  sent  the  rocking-horse  and  the  big  wax  doll 
that  were  found  by  Penner  at  the  door  when  he  opened  the  house  on 
Christmas  morning.  Suspicion  attached  to  several  heads,  including 
Tintop's,  whose  head,  by  the  way,  had  been  cracked  by  a  shell  during 
the  war,  and  a  portion  of  whose  skull,  so  rumor  had  it,  had  been 
replaced  by  a  silver  plate,  which  led  to  his  wearing  a  nickname  and 
a  wig.  But  one  and  all  the  accused  established  what  Mrs.  Whaling 
once  pronounced  an  alibi,  "  because  they  had  sent  something  else." 
Then  they  thought  of  Trooper  Schramm,  now  a  fine-looking  dragoon, 
consummately  at  home  in  his  business;  but  Schramm  hadn't  been  near 
the  house  for  two  weeks.  A  paymaster's  escort  was  needed  to  convoy 
that  official  to  distant  winter  cantonments,  and  Schramm  had  promptly 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  go.  This  time  he  didn't  say  "  mit  dem  fellers" 
as  he  had  in  the  field  the  autumn  before,  neither  did  he  add  "  once"  or 
"alretty."  Schramm  was  "studying  book  English,"  said  the  first 
sergeant.  The  paymaster  got  home  to  his  Christmas  all  right, — he 
needed  no  escort  when  his  money  was  gone, — but  Schramm  and  his 
squad  trotted  in  two  days  later,  after  the  turkey  and  cranberry  sauce 
were  all  devoured,  so  Schramm  could  have  had  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  the  gifts  sent  out  from  town.  So  long  as  they  had  them,  Lot 
and  Billy  didn't  care  who  was  the  donor.  They  believed  all  the  more 
in  Santa  Glaus.  It  was  Connie  who  thought  and  wondered ;  it  was 
Connie,  alas!  who  hoped  and  dreamed. 

Among  the  daily  visitors  to  the  house  Perry  Thornton,  second  lieu 
tenant  of  Manning's  troop,  had  been  prominent  all  winter,  and  there 
wasn't  a  handsomer,  blither  boy  in  all  the  regiment  when  he  joined. 
He  was  barely  twenty-two,  with  a  face  almost  womanly  fair,  and  a 
form  as  slender  and  graceful  as  boy's  could  be.  He  rode  and  danced 
and  sang  well.  He  didn't  drink ;  he  wouldn't  gamble.  He  was  a 


156  SERGEANT  CRCESVS. 

soldier's  son,  an  enthusiastic  youngster  who  had  seen  some  years  of 
schooling  and  travel  in  Europe,  and  who  had  much  to  tell  of  soldiers 
who  had  won  the  V.  C.  or  the  Iron  Cross.  "  Now  in  Europe,"  said 
he,  "  the  officer  is  held  as  a  hero  who,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  bore  off  a 
wounded  comrade  to  whom  it  meant  death  if  abandoned."  The  cross 
for  valor,  pinned  on  his  breast  by  royal  hands,  was  the  least  reward  to 
which  he  could  look.  Joining  the  regiment  just  at  the  end  of  the 
autumn  work,  and  reading  of  the  narrow  escape  of  Lieutenant  Morgan 
on  the  way,  Thornton's  first  longing  was  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  the  gallant  subaltern  who  had  so  bravely  stood  by  the  humble  re 
cruit  and  got  his  wound  in  saving  him.  Down  went  his  ideal  to  dust 
when  a  grizzled,  careworn,  sad-faced  veteran  was  borne  from  the  am 
bulance  into  the  homely  quarters,  and  somebody  said,  "  The  old  man's 
about  petered."  Thornton  could  not  understand  it.  "  In  England  or 
in  Germany  officers  and  men  would  have  been  lining  the  way  and 
standing  at  salute,"  said  he,  "  for  a  fellow  who  did  what  Mr.  Morgan 
did/' 

"  O-h,  up  there  when  he  went  deer-hunting,  do  you  mean  ?  Oh, 
yes,  I  remember, — helping  Schramm  out  when  he  got  hit.  Ye-es,  that 
was  all  right,"  said  one  of  the  young  gentlemen  of  the  regiment,  and 
in  so  saying  conveyed  the  idea  to  the  new-comer  that  there  was  nothing 
in  that  sort  of  thing  to  excite  remark.  It  was  the  rule,  not  the  ex 
ception,  in  the  American  cavalry.  "  We'd  all  do  just  as  much," — as, 
indeed,  very  probably  they  would.  But  Thornton  determined  he 
would  cultivate  Morgan,  decorated  or  not,  and  so  it  had  happened 
that  it  was  the  "  plebe,"  the  newest  comer  to  the  regiment,  who  spent 
an  hour  almost  every  afternoon  before  stables  playing  checkers  with 
the  invalid  veteran,  rarely  noticing  silent,  busy  Connie,  who  came  and 
went,  or  sat  beside  them  with  her  needlework,  darning  the  youngsters' 
stockings  or  sewing  on  buttons  by  the  dozen,  yet  saying  never  a  word. 
Perry  had  no  end  of  interest  in  his  new  profession,  but  none  whatever 
in  children.  It  was  the  proper  thing  for  him  to  be  devoted  to  the 
senior  subaltern  who  in  other  armies,  perhaps,  would  have  won  such 
distinction,  and  he  wrote  with  both  pride  and  complacency  to  his 
friends  at  home  of  his  daily  intercourse  with  a  fellow  who  did  what 
Beresford  was  V.  C.'d  for  at  Ultindi.  "  But  nobody  out  here  seems  to 
think  it  worth  mentioning,"  he  added.  He  was  immensely  proud  of 
being  second  lieutenant  in  a  troop  whose  captain  had  won  three  brevets 
with  the  regulars,  and  whose  first  lieutenant  had  done  as  much  with 


SERGEANT  CR(ESVS.  157 

the  volunteers,  botli  in  the  great  civil  war ;  but  he  hadn't  been  long 
enough  in  the  service  to  find  out  that  brevets  followed  on  the  heels  of 
the  great  Rebellion  like  rain  on  the  boom  of  a  battle,  deluging  every 
body  who  happened  to  be  around.  He  found  Morgan  loved  to  hear 
of  life  in  foreign  armies,  while  no  one  else  had  time  to  listen.  He 
loved  to  talk,  and  so  he  came.  He  loved  to  hear  of  cavalry  cam 
paigns  during  the  war,  and  soon  got  Morgan  to  telling  and  explaining, 
and  so,  little  by  little,  he  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  sunshine  of 
their  day.  He  was  "pulling  Morgan  out  of  himself,"  and  when  the 
spring  came  on  the  "  old  man"  was  surely  better,  able  to  sun  himself 
on  the  southern  porch  and  watch  the  drills  on  the  broad  parade.  Con 
nie  was  but  a  child.  Who  could  have  a  thought  for  her  ?  And  so 
here  she  stood  this  exquisite  May  morning,  just  bordering  on  woman 
hood,  as  the  sweet  spring  buds  were  bursting  into  bloom,  and  with 
yearning,  outstretched  arms,  with  a  deeper,  fonder  glow  in  the  big 
brown  eyes  than  mortal  yet  had  seen,  gazing  longingly  away  down  the 
distant  valley,  down  along  the  silver  windings  of  the  stream,  fringed 
by  the  fresh  green  of  the  cotton  woods,  away  from  the  dull  brown 
buildings  of  the  old  frontier  post,  away  from  barracks,  quarters,  and 
corral,  away  from  its  bustling  life  and  cares  and  sorrows,  away  from 
that  picketed  enclosure  far  out  over  the  prairie  where  now  the  loved 
mother  had  been  resting  long  months  beyond  the  twelve,  away  from 
aging  father,  from  laughing  girl  and  romping  boy,  Connie  Morgan's 
heart,  shining  through  her  steadfast  eyes,  was  following  the  fast-fading 
dust-cloud  that  told  where  the  squadrons  were  marching  sturdily  away 
to  drive  the  Indians  from  their  old  haunts  down  the  wild  wastes  of 
the  Mini  Ska,  and  Perry  Thornton  riding  on  his  first  campaign. 


IV. 

The  cavalry  battalion  had  been  gone  only  two  days.  Some  few 
of  the  officers'  families,  well  assured  that  it  would  be  Thanksgiving 
in  earnest  before  they  could  hope  to  see  the  campaigners  again,  had 
taken  wing  to  the  East  and  were  domiciled  with  friends  or  relatives 
far  from  scenes  which  so  constantly  brought  to  mind  the  image  of  the 
absent  husband  and  father.  In  most  cases,  however,  the  little  house 
holds  remained  at  the  post,  assured  by  department  head-quarters  that 
they  should  be  undisturbed  in  the  tenure  of  their  army  homes.  Mor- 

14 


158  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

gan,  whose  health  and  spirits  had  slowly  revived  as  the  sun  came  north 
ward  over  the  line,  had  striven  to  convince  Old  Tin  top  and  the  surgeon 
that  it  would  do  him  good  to  go,  but  was  flatly  denied  the  luxury  he 
craved  and  bidden  to  remain  at  the  post.  The  department  commander 
came  out  to  look  over  the  field  in  early  May,  and  told  Morgan  that  he 
meant  to  keep  him  on  duty  at  the  post  all  summer,  in  the  hope  that 
the  autumn  would  find  him  promoted  to  his  captaincy.  Then  he 
might  be  able  to  get  an  order  to  go  before  a  retiring  board  and  so  home 
to  the  old  State  and  old  friends  he  had  not  seen  for  years.  Morgan 
thanked  the  kind-hearted  chief  for  all  his  help  and  consideration,  but 
his  tired  eyes  wandered  away  over  the  prairie  to  the  lonely  grave  he 
often  managed  to  visit  now.  If  it  were  only  possible  to  retire  for 
good  and  all,  how  willingly  would  he  go  and  be  laid  away  there  by 
Carrie's  side,  were  there  only  some  provision  for  Constance  and  the 
babies  !  It  appalled  him  to  realize  that  they  were  dependent  absolutely 
upon  so  slender  a  thread  as  his  life ;  that  he  must  struggle  on,  must 
exist,  must  suffer  and  try,  at  least,  to  be  strong  that  they  might  not 
starve.  If  only  those  debts  were  paid,  if  only  he  could  retire  and 
take  the  children  to  some  quiet  Eastern  home,  however  humble,  where 
they  might  be  sent  to  school  and  where  Connie  might  receive  the 
education  thus  far  so  utterly  neglected,  then  Morgan  could  live  on, 
grateful  and  almost  content.  He  could  surely  get  some  clerkship, 
some  desk-work  that  would  enable  him  to  add  a  few  hundred  dollars 
yearly  to  the  allowance  of  a  retired  dragoon.  He  did  not  begin  to 
know,  poor  fellow,  how  universal  was  the  theory  among  business-men 
that  old  soldiers  were  unfit  for  business  of  any  kind.  He  wrote  to 
Carrie's  brothers  again,  saying  nothing,  of  course,  of  how  often  and 
how  much  he  had  helped  them  in  the  past,  and  begged  them  to  find 
some  opening  that  would  warrant  his  retiring.  No  answer  came.  He 
wrote  again.  Then  Bob  sent  a  few  curt  lines : 

"Yours  rec'd,  contents  noted.  Tho't  Wm.  had  ans'd  or  wld  have 
done  so.  Business  very  slack.  Times  hard.  No  opening  of  any  kind. 
H'd  to  dischg  two  elks  last  month.  Better  hang  on  to  your  present 
situation  awhile  longer.  If  anything  turns  up  will  let  you  know. 

"  Yr  bro.  aff'y." 

Morgan  read  human  nature  well  enough  to  see  just  how  much  that 
meant.  He  would  "  hang  on  to  the  situation"  as  a  matter  of  course, 
despite  the  fact  that  the  doctor  said  the  rheumatism  would  hang  on  to 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  159 

him  as  long  as  he  remained  in  that  climate.     Both  General  C and 

the  colonel  had  again  interested  themselves  in  his  behalf,  and  the  rail 
way  managers  said  they  could  place  him  in  their  office  in  town  when* 
he  got  ready  to  retire.     The  salary  was  very  small,  hut  would  help. 
The  work  was  exacting,  however,  and  the  doctor  said  he  simply  could 
not  do  it  in  that  climate. 

"  Never  mind,  old  friend,  we'll  fix  it  somehow,"  said  Tiutop,  cheerily, 
as  he  came  to  say  good-by,  looking  very  much  the  younger  of  the  two 
as  Morgan  leaned  heavily  on  his  stick.  "  You  just  stay  here  and  run 
the  ordnance  office  this  summer.  There's  bound  to  be  promotion  by 
fall."  And  so,  sadly  enough,  the  veteran  trooper  had  seen  the  squad 
rons  ride  away,  and  he  was  left  sole  representative  of  the  commissioned 
force  of  his  regiment  at  old  Fort  Ransom,  and  not  till  they  had  been 
gone  two  days  did  he  note  that  Connie  was  drooping. 

"  What  is  it,  Little  Mother  ?"  he  said,  fondly  stroking  back  the 
tumbling  mass  of  auburn  hair  and  kissing  her  white  forehead.  "  Tired 
out  with  all  your  household  care?  Growing  too  fast?  Lot  and  Billy 
too  much  for  you  now?" 

The  big  pathetic  brown  eyes  were  swimming  a  little,  but  she  looked 
bravely  up.  "  Perhaps  it's  spring  fever,"  she  said,  with  an  attempt  at 
laughing  it  all  lightly  away.  "  I'm  sure  there's  nothing  else.  I'm 
only  a  trifle  fagged.  It  will  be  all  right  now  that  we  all  can  get  out 
again  in  the  sunshine  every  day." 

She  was  fastening  his  necktie  for  him  at  the  moment,  then,  patting 
his  grizzled  cheek,  she  took  the  whisk  broom  to  dust  the  worn  old 
fatigue-coat  preparatory  to  letting  him  stump  forth  on  his  halting  way 
to  the  ordnance  storehouse,  but  there  came  a  rousing  rat-tat-tat  at  the 
front  door  just  at  the  instant,  and,  Mammy  being  up  to  her  elbows  in  flour 
and  Penner  away  at  the  commissary,  Connie  sprang  to  answer,  and 
there,  precise  and  soldierly  as  ever,  stood  Schramm. 

"  Why,  Schr-r-amm  !"  she  cried,  delightedly.  "  Why — when — 
how  did  you  get  back  ?" 

"Sergeant  Schultz,  gnadige  Fraulein,  was  sent  back  with  despatches, 
and  I  came  with  him.  Is  the  Herr  Lieutenant  within?  I  bring 
letters."  And  he  handed  her  a  packet. 

"  Come  right  in,  Schramm  ;  papa  will  be  so  glad  to  see  you." 

And  thus  bidden,  yet  ever  unbending,  Schramm  stepped  to  the 
inner  door,  and  there,  hand  at  salute  and  heels  together,  he  stood  atten 
tion,  his  kind  blue  eyes  alight  with  fidelity  and  affection. 


160  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

"  Hello,  Schramra  !"  exclaimed   Morgan,  limping  around  the  big 
base- burner  with  extended  hand,  which  the  soldier  grasped  respectfully 
'an  instant,  then  returned  to  his  invariable  attitude.     "  Well,  you  must 
have  ridden  hard." 

"  Only  forty-five  miles,  sir.  We  left  them  in  camp  on  Bear  Fork 
at  midnight.  There  was  news  from  the  agency.  We  go  back  this 
afternoon  with  orders  to  catch  them  to-morrow  at  Painted  Lodge." 

Hurriedly  opening  the  packet,  Morgan  glanced  over  the  contents  : 
two  official  letters  for  himself,  and  a  smaller  note.  "  Why,  Con,  this 
is  for  you — from  Thornton,"  he  said,  in  surprise.  Then,  never  noting 
the  eager,  almost  incredulous  light  that  flashed  into  her  eyes,  or  the 
instant  rush  of  color  to  her  cheeks  and  brow,  he  tore  open  the  first 
letter,  an  order  from  Tintop  to  send  on  certain  arms  for  the  use  of 
scouts.  He  glanced  quickly  up  to  send  Schramm  for  the  ordnance 
sergeant,  but  Schramm  had  disappeared.  There  stood  Constance,  her 
eyes  dancing,  her  red  lips  parted,  her  bosom  heaving,  languor  and 
pallor  utterly  banished  from  her  face,  grasping  in  both  hands  the  letter 
he  had  given  her,  devouring  its  pages  with  all  her  soul  in  her  eyes, 
utterly  lost  to  him  and  to  the  world  at  large  in  the  rapture  of  a  young 
girl's  first  dream  of  love.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  Morgan  saw 
that  his  child  was  beautiful.  For  the  first  time  it  dawned  upon  him 
she  was  no  longer  a  child.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  the  father 
called  her  to  his  side  and  she  did  not  hear. 

"  Connie,"  he  said.     Then  at  last,  almost  sternly,  "  Constance  !" 

"  Oh  !  what,  papa  dear  ?     Forgive  me,  I  was  so — I  was " 

"Yes,"  said  he,  vaguely,  feeling  all  helpless  and  bewildered  yet. 
"  Yes.  What  does  he  say  ?  Why  does  he  write  to  you  ?" 

Another  rush  of  color,  a  new  flash  in  the  great  brown  eyes,  yet 
more  hesitancy,  more  embarrassment. 

"  Why,  there's  a  letter  for  you,  papa, — he  says  so;  but — this  is 
about  something  else." 

Slowly  Morgan  turned,  unwilling  to  think,  reluctant  to  believe, 
unable  to  wound.  It  was  all  so  sudden,  so  utterly  unlooked-for. 
What  on  earth  could  Thornton  have  to  say  to  her  ?  Where  was  the 
letter  to  him  ?  Oh,  here,  inside  Gray's  despatch.  He  tore  it  open  : 
"  Dear  Old  Man, — In  the  mail  sent  forward  to  catch  us  there  comes  a 
welcome  letter  from  father.  He  says  that  Wall,  of  the  Ninth,  and 
Clinton,  of  the  Sixth,  have  applied  for  retirement.  You  are  sure  of 
your  double  bars  then  before  September,  and  we  are  all  rejoicing.  I 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  161 

couldn't  help  writing,  as  I  wanted  to  be  the  first  to  tell  you.  Please 
give  the  enclosed  to  Connie.  Love  to  the  kids,  all  three.  Yours, 
P.  T."  Give  what  to  Connie?  He  turned  the  envelope  inside  out, 
and  there  was  no  enclosure  other  than  the  letter.  Mechanically  he 
stretched  forth  his  hand. 

"  Let  me  see  your  letter,  Connie,"  he  said,  and  to  his  dismay  she 
for  an  instant  shrank  back.  Then,  seeing  the  pain  in  his  eyes,  she 
sprang  towards  him. 

"  Oh,  do,  papa ;  read  every  word,"  she  said.  "  Indeed,  I'd  rather, 
— only  he — only  they  didn't  want  you  to  know  it — just  yet."  But  he 
did  not  seem  to  hear  her. 

"  I  only  asked  to  see  if  it  could  go  inside  here,"  he  said,  slowly. 
"Thornton  speaks  of  an  enclosure,  and  probably  that  was  it. — Here, 
Schramm,"  he  cried,  hastening  to  the  door,"  will  you  tell  the  ordnance 
sergeant  I  want  him  right  off?  I'll  meet  him  at  the  store-room. 
Wait  a  minute  ;  just  give  me  your  arm  down  the  steps."  And,  lean 
ing  on  the  blue-shirted,  muscular  shoulder,  Morgan  stumped  away  out 
through  the  little  gate,  out  across  the  grassy  parade  where  the  infantry 
companies  were  busy  at  drill ;  and  there  was  a  cloud  on  both  faces 
now,  as,  saluting  at  the  gate,  Schramm  fell  respectfully  to  the  rear. 

And  yet,  an  hour  later,  when  Morgan  returned  to  his  quarters 
and  Lot  and  Billy  came  tumbling  tumultuously  to  greet  him,  and  he, 
moody  and  troubled,  sent  them  off  in  supreme  content  to  buy  a  nickel's 
worth  of  gum-drops  at  the  store,  then  came  slowly  to  his  door,  a  vague 
sense  of  new  trouble  was  tugging  at  his  heart,  a  doubt  as  to  what  he 
ought  to  do  or  say  numbing  his  faculties.  Pausing  at  the  threshold, 
he  heard  Connie's  voice,  low,  rich,  tremulous  with  happiness,  singing 
one  of  her  mother's  old  dear  songs,  a  thing  she  had  not  done  since  the 
bitter  day  they  followed  the  mother  to  her  grave,  and  the  instant  he 
entered  she  came  to  throw  her  arms  about  his  neck  and  raise  her  glow 
ing  face  to  his  lips.  He  took  it  between  his  hands  and  looked  down 
gravely,  fondly,  yet  with  such  a  world  of  trouble  in  his  eyes.  The 
song  was  hushed.  Once  more  the  color  mounted  to  her  temples,  but 
the  big,  soft  eyes  never  flinched  nor  faltered. 

"  Read  that  letter  now,  papa  dear,"  she  simply  said.  "  I  want  you 
to  read  it."  And  then  when  he  would  not,  but  sank  wearily  in  his 
chair,  she  went  and  fetched  the  letter  she  had  placed  upon  his  desk, 
and  perched  herself  upon  the  arm  of  the  chair  and  nestled  her  soft 
cheek  against  his  weather-beaten  jowl,  and  opened  the  note  before  his 

14* 


162  SERGEANT  CR(ESUS. 

eyes,  which  iu  turn  he  promptly  shut.  Then  she  strove  to  pull  them 
open  by  means  of  the  lashes,  and  then  he  turned  his  head  away. 

"  I  don't  want  to  read  the  letter,  Con,"  he  said,  remorsefully.  "  I 
never  meant  to  let  our  Little  Mother  think  I " 

"  Then  I'll  read  it,  papa,"  she  began,  interrupting  him,  whereat  he 
clapped  his  hands  to  his  ears.  u  Well,  at  least  you  must  see  the 
picture,"  she  cried,  and,  jumping  up,  she  ran  to  the  mantel  with  a  tin 
type,  a  likeness  of  a  tall  young  fellow  with  a  downy  moustache,  arrayed 
in  cavalry  scouting  garb,  with  prairie  belt  and  holster,  a  very  present 
able  young  dragoon,  too,  the  second  lieutenant  of  Manning's  troop; 
but  the  eyes  of  the  first  lieutenant  thereof  looked  less  kindly  on  this 
counterfeit  presentment  than  ever  they  had  upon  the  face  of  the 
original. 

"  Where  was  it  taken  ?"  he  asked,  rather  abruptly,  feeling  that  he 
must  say  something. 

"  Mr.  Thornton  says  an  itinerant  artist  drove  out  from  town  and 
met  them  at  the  first  camp  and  took  quite  a  number  and  some  groups. 
He  had  two  of  them  taken  just  like  this,  to  send  home,  and  dropped 
the  odd  one  in  here,  saying  it  was  a  philopo3na  and  a  bribe." 

"  Bribe  ?  For  what  ?"  demanded  Morgan.  "  Why  should  he 
bribe  my  little  girl  ?" 

"  Oh,  there  was  no  need,"  she  laughed,  blithely.  "  He — they  all, 
he  said,  wanted  something  your  Connie  was  only  too  glad  to  get  ant' 
give.  Now  you  must  read  it  and  see  for  yourself,  papa." 

But  he  would  not.  He  was  ashamed  of  the  fear  that  for  a 
moment  had  possessed  him,  that  she  had  consented  to  a  correspondence 
with  Thornton  without  once  asking  her  father's  counsel, — she,  his 
little  Connie,  his  first-born.  True,  she  was  older  at  fifteen  than  many 
town-bred  girls  at  twenty,  for  her  childhood  had  been  nipped  in  the 
bud,  and  since  those  slender  shoulders  had  borne  the  care  and  burden 
of  woman  for  two  long  years,  was  it  to  be  forbidden  her  to  know 
aught  of  woman's  glory?  Only,  had  he  been  blind  all  the  time?  Day 
after  day  had  Thornton  been  their  visitor,  yet  never  in  all  that  time 
had  the  father  seen  or  suspected  in  the  young  officer  any  more  interest 
in  Constance  than  he  displayed  in  Lot  or  Billy.  True,  she  was  almost 
always  a  silent  attendant  at  their  daily  game,  or  an  absorbed  listener  to 
their  talk,  rarely  leaving  them  except  to  go  into  the  other  room  to 
moderate  the  clamor  of  the  youngsters,  who,  being  burly  and  aggres 
sive,  were  too  often  involved  in  a  game  of  give  and  take  in  which 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  163 

they  were  fairly  matched.  But  Thornton's  manner  to  her,  which  was 
at  first  simply  kindly  and  jovial,  as  it  was  to  the  other  children,  had 
certainly  changed  to  greater  deference  as  the  winter  wore  on.  Little 
by  little  he  saw  how  her  father  leaned  upon  the  girl,  how  thoughtful, 
how  devoted  she  was.  He  had  been  reared  a  gentleman.  He  had  a 
mother  and  sisters  whom  he  dearly  loved,  and  from  earliest  boyhood 
he  had  been  taught  by  his  soldier  father  the  lesson  of  gentleness, 
courtesy,  and  consideration.  From  the  other  officers  in  the  regiment, 
most  of  whom  had  known  her  in  pinafores,  her  greeting  was  simply 
"Hello,  Con  !"  or  "  Morning,  Connie ;  how's  dad  to-day?"  Thorn 
ton's  impulse  from  the  first  when  he  met  this  tall  slip  of  a  girl  in 
solemn  black  was  to  call  her  "  Miss  Morgan,"  which  made  her  blush 
furiously.  Later  on,  laughed  at  by  the  veteran  sub.,  he  had  compro 
mised  on  "Miss  Connie,"  but  not  until  he  had  been  a  daily  visitor  for 
several  months  had  it  come  to  "  Connie."  Morgan  never  knew  how 
she  had  fled  to  her  room  and  nearly  cried  her  eyes  out  the  morning  the 
battalion  marched  away.  It  was  after  breakfast  that  Mrs.  Woods  had 
come  for  her  and,  with  other  ladies,  had  driven  out  to  the  butte  south 
of  the  post,  from  whose  side  the  Mini  Ska  could  be  traced  for  miles, 
but  to  whose  summit  Connie  alone  had  been  bold  and  active  enough  to 
climb.  All  he  saw  and  realized  now  was  that  his  darling  had  been 
pale  and  languid,  plainly  drooping  for  a  while,  and  then  all  on  a  sud 
den,  at  the  coming  of  that  little  note,  sunshine,  gladness,  gratitude, 
joy,  all  had  beamed  from  her  speaking  eyes,  had  bubbled  from  her 
girlish  heart  in  song.  He  had  mourned  the  mother's  loss  before,  but 
it  was  as  nothing  compared  with  the  helpless  yearning  that  possessed 
him  now.  Who  was  there  to  counsel,  who  was  there  to  take  his  beloved 
child  to  her  heart,  and  with  mother  love  and  sympathy,  with  mother 
kiss  and  clasping  arms,  in  the  sure  haven  of  mother's  changeless  love 
win  from  the  virgin  soul  its  cherished  secret,  then  guide  and  guard  and 
counsel  as  only  mothers  can  ? 

Poor  Morgan !  He  would  not  read  the  boy's  frank  letter.  That 
might  imply  doubt  of  his  little  girl.  He  could  not  consult  such 
friends  as  Mrs.  Freeman ;  she  had  taken  her  babies  and  flitted  away 
to  the  sea-shore  for  the  summer.  Mrs.  Stannard,  once  his  wife's  kind 
friend  and  adviser,  had  gone  long  months  before,  when  the  major  went 
to  his  new  station.  There  were  loving  women,  kind  women,  motherly 
women,  at  the  post,  yet  not  those  to  whom  he  could  speak  of  anything 
so  sacred.  Neither  could  he  brino-  himself  to  the  faintest  reference  to 


164  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

the  matter  in  talking  with  his  child.  There  was  simply  one  thing 
which  he  could  do,  thought  Morgan.  All  the  winter  he  had  been 
growing  fond  and  fonder  of  the  bright-faced,  glad-voiced,  soldierly 
young  fellow ;  but  now,  now,  if  it  should  transpire  that  all  this  time 
Thornton  had  been  laying  siege  to  Connie's  innocent  heart,  he  could 
hate  him  and  in  time  crush  and  punish. 

At  noon  the  sergeant  came  to  say  the  stores  were  boxed  and  ready 
for  shipment.  Would  the  lieutenant  sign  the  invoices  ?  Over  at  the 
adjutant's  office  the  infantry  bugler  had  just  sounded  mess  and  orderly 
call.  The  companies  were  going  in  to  dinner,  the  noise  and  bustle 
around  the  barracks  contrasting  strongly  with  the  silence  and  desertion 
over  there  across  the  parade  where  stood  the  cavalry  quarters.  As 
Morgan  came  forth  into  the  bright  sunshine  of  the  first  June  day,  he 
noted  how  the  snow-belt  on  the  distant  peak  had  lifted  higher  in  the 
last  forty-eight  hours,  and  thought  with  a  heavy  sigh  how  care  and 
trouble  had  sunk  so  much  deeper  around  his  heart.  Major  Rhett,  of 
the  infantry,  temporary  commander  of  the  post,  was  standing  by  the 
sundial  as  Morgan  and  his  sergeant  came  trudging  along.  One  or 
two  officers  were  with  him.  A  telegraph  message  was  in  his  hand, 
and  he  was  looking  strangely  worried.  All  of  the  group  ceased  their 
talk  and  glanced  at  Morgan  as  he  neared  them. 

"  The  ordnance  stores  are  ready  for  shipment,  major,"  said  he. 
"The  colonel  will  have  a  couple  of  wagons  at  Alkali  Station  to  meet 
the  freight  to-night.  We  have  billed  it  there." 

"  How  far  were  they  camped  from  Alkali  last  night,  Mr.  Morgan  ?" 

"  How  far,  sir  ?  Well,  they  were  on  Bear  Fork,  probably  fifteen 
miles  north  of  west  of  Alkali.  They  camp  to-night  at  Willow  Springs, 
and  to-morrow  under  Painted  Lodge  Buttes,  and " 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  interrupted  the  commander,  "  and  it  was  at  Willow 
Springs  Major  Graves  was  to  meet  and  pay  them,  I  believe?" 

"  So  I  heard,  sir.  Though  at  first  I  rather  imagined  they  wouldn't 
be  paid  now  until  after  next  muster." 

"  Well,  they  won't.  Graves  was  robbed  at  Minden  Station,  early 
this  morning,  of  every  dollar,  and  the  robbers  wore  cavalry  uniforms." 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  165 

V. 

Old  Curran,  the  sutler, — for  sutler  he  was  long  years  before  his 
designation  was  changed  to  post  trader,  and  longer  still  before  his 
occupation  was  wiped  out  entirely  by  the  civilizing  process  which 
made  bar-tenders  of  "  blue-coats," — old  Curran  had  been  losing  money 
all  winter,  and  was  growling  about  it.  He  looked  to  the  payment 
following  the  April  muster  to  recoup  him  for  his  losses,  as  many  a 
good  soldier  was  deep  in  his  books.  The  payment  should  have  been 
made  in  May,  but  for  some  reason  it  was  postponed,  possibly  in  order 
that  the  paymaster  might  make  the  circuit  of  the  cordon  of  posts  in 
the  bright  weather  of  early  June ;  but  a  pack  of  young  rascals  and 
malcontents  at  the  Indian  reservation  had  been  turbulent  all  spring, 
and  no  sooner  was  the  snow  out  of  the  Mini  Ska  valley  than  the  cattle 
came  after  the  budding  grass  and  the  Sioux  came  after  the  cattle. 
They  were  hungry,  no  doubt, — the  Sioux  sometimes  are,  despite  the 
fact  that  they  are  excellent  providers  and  know  how  to  take  care  of 
themselves,  and  the  difference  between  them  and  certain  tractable  and 
therefore  systematically  ill-treated  tribes  is,  that  when  they  are  not 
given  what  they  want  they  take  it.  Heaven  helps  those  who  help 
themselves,  and  in  their  dealings  with  the  wards  of  the  nation  the 
United  States  of  America  have  this  resemblance  to  heaven.  The 
Sioux  helped  themselves  so  liberally  to  cattle — and  herders — this  par 
ticular  spring  that  Tintop,  with  six  troops  of  his  devoted  regiment, 
was  hurried  forth  to  brush  them  out  of  the  Mini  Ska,  and  then  to  go 
on  and  help  some  comrades  four  hundred  miles  away  who  were  too 
few  in  number  for  the  work  in  hand.  To  Curran's  disgust,  the  battalion 
marched  out  leaving  its  score  at  the  shop  unsettled.  Not  that  the  sol 
diers  could  help  it  at  all,  but  because  they  themselves  were  creditors 
who  couldn't  collect.  Then,  to  Curran's  delight,  it  was  announced 
that  Major  Graves  was  sent  out  by  rail  to  pay  them  before  they  got 
too  far  away.  Curran  rejoicingly  set  forth  to  meet  him  and  be  present 
at  the  ceremony,  and  thereby,  doubtless,  collect  large  portion  of  the 
dollars  due  him.  Curran  thoughtfully,  too,  loaded  up  a  couple  of 
wagons  with  pies,  cakes,  cheese,  pickles,  crackers,  canned  fruits,  bottled 
beer,  whiskey,  and  tobacco,  lest  the  boys  shouldn't  know  what  to  do 
with  what  remained  of  their  money.  This  load  he  pushed  forward  on 
the  heels  of  the  command.  Then  his  own  fine  team  and  spring-wagon 


166  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

were  sent  down  the  valley  to  Alkali  Station,  whither  he  proposed  to 
follow  by  rail  and  meet  the  paymaster  on  his  arrival,  and  to  entertain 
him  royally  on  the  drive  out  to  the  Springs.  It  was  estimated  that 
the  battalion,  breaking  camp  on  Bear  Fork  at  5.30  A.M.,  could  un 
saddle  and  pitch  its  tents  at  Willow  Springs  by  noon.  It  was  esti 
mated  that  leaving  Alkali,  say  at  six  A.M.,  after  a  hearty  breakfast,  the 
paymaster  would  be  trundled  away  up  the  valley  of  the  Dry  Fork 
and  be  landed  at  the  Springs,  twenty-five  miles  north  of  the  railway, 
in  plenty  of  time  to  meet  them,  and  Tintop  was  ordered  to  detach  a 
sergeant  and  ten  men  to  ride  over  to  Alkali  from  their  camp  on  Bear 
Fork  to  bivouac  at  the  station  over-night  and  escort  the  paymaster  up 
the  next  day.  Graves  left  department  head-quarters  on  the  west 
bound  express,  his  clerk,  his  valise  full  of  funds  necessary  for  the 
payment  of  the  battalion,  and  he  himself,  all  comfortably  ensconced  in 
the  Pullman  car.  They  were  due  at  Alkali  at  four  A.M.  They  could 
retire  early,  have  a  good  night's  rest,  and  be  called  by  the  porter  in 
plenty  of  time  to  be  up  and  dressed  and  to  enjoy  a  camp  breakfast  with 
their  escort  at  the  little  station — a  mere  siding  with  some  cattle  chutes 
and  pens — before  starting  on  their  drive. 

Standing  where  Constance  had  stood  on  the  summit  of  the  high, 
precipitous  butte  that  lay  southwest  of  the  fort,  one  could  see  the 
valley  of  the  Mini  Ska  stretching  away  to  the  eastward  a  distance  of 
nearly  fifty  miles.  Then  the  stream  seemed  to  bring  up  suddenly 
against  a  line  of  bluffs  that  turned  it  off  to  the  northeast,  and  this 
general  direction  it  followed  another  fifty  miles.  The  land  was  low 
and  undulating  along  the  left  bank,  while  on  the  right,  between  the 
stream  and  the  bold  line  of  bluffs  to  the  south,  there  was  barely  room 
for  the  railway.  Fordable  here  near  the  fort,  the  Mini  Ska  speedily 
deepened  and  widened  and  became  sluggish  in  flow  as  it  rolled  out  into 
the  lowlands  after  its  tumbling  rush  through  the  mountain-chain  at 
the  west.  Every  year  since  its  establishment  had  a  cavalry  column 
marched  away  from  Fort  Ransom  to  straighten  out  matters  between 
the  Sioux  and  the  settlers  who  were  venturing  too  close  to  the  reserva 
tion.  The  first  year  or  two  the  trail  led  along  the  west  bank,  hugging 
the  stream,  but,  as  it  was  found  that  this  was  the  longer,  hotter,  and 
dustier  way,  a  new  route  was  decided  on,  cutting  across  the  big  bend 
and  winding  along  over  the  foot-hills  of  the  range,  from  which  several 
streams  of  clear,  cool  water  came  pouring  forth,  speedily  to  become 
murky  and  turbid  on  reaching  the  broad  plain  below.  The  first  day's 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  167 

march  lay  almost  due  east  from  Ransom  and  parallel  with  the  Mini 
Ska,  the  next  veered  around  towards  the  northeast,  and  camp  was 
always  made  at  Bear  Fork.  Not  until  the  fourth  camp  at  Painted 
Lodge  did  the  trail  and  the  stream  again  come  together,  and  from  that 
point  down  to  the  disputed  territory,  the  pet  raiding-ground  of  the 
restless  "  young  men,"  the  two  were  never  far  apart.  West  of  Painted 
Lodge  the  Sioux  did  not  often  venture,  though  the  broad  bottom-land 
within  this  elbow  of  the  Ska  was  a  fine  grazing-ground. 

The  railway,  coming  up  from  the  southeast  and  over  a  high  plateau, 
dropped  down  to  the  valley  by  means  of  a  long,  winding  ravine 
scooped  out  for  it  by  the  Antelope,  a  little  tributary  that  joined  the 
Mini  Ska  just  at  the  elbow,  and  here,  at  the  point  where  the  rail  and 
the  river  after  running  parallel  for  eighty  miles  suddenly  quit  com 
pany,  the  line  shooting  eastward,  the  stream  northeast, — here  stood 
Alkali  Station.  Cattle-men  had  built  a  low  bridge  over  the  stream  at 
this  point,  with  the  intention  of  making  Alkali  the  shipping  station 
for  their  beeves,  and  from  this  place  a  sandy  road  ran  down  the  left 
bank  to  Painted  Lodge  Butte  and  away  to  the  agencies.  Once  upon  a 
time  the  mails  were  carried  that  way,  and  a  stage  ran  twice  a  week 
between  Alkali  and  the  reservation,  but  when  a  rival  railway  sent  a 
line  across  the  Missouri  and  tapped  the  lands  of  the  Dakotas  far  up  to 
the  northeast,  the  agency  freight,  mail,  and  passengers  were  sent  around 
that  way,  and  Alkali  became  a  deserted  village.  There  stood  the  old 
stage-house,  the  cattle-chutes,  and  the  rickety  d<§pot,  but  no  trains 
stopped  there  now  except  on  signal,  and  the  telegraph  instrument  and 
operator  had  been  moved  to  Minden,  some  twenty-five  miles  farther  west. 
Here,  too,  was  a  bridge  over  the  Mini  Ska  and  a  cattle-shipping  point. 
Here  the  ranchmen  who  did  not  care  to  take  the  extra  twenty-five-mile 
gallop  to  Butteville  had  all  their  mail  addressed,  and  Minden  speedily 
assumed  the  mild  and  modest  importance  which  Alkali  had  lost. 

And  it  was  at  Minden,  said  Major  Rhett,  that  the  paymaster  was 
robbed  that  morning  soon  after  dawn,  and  robbed  by  men  in  cavalry 
overcoats.  Morgan  listened  a  moment,  simply  stunned. 

"  When  did  the  news  come  in,  sir?"  asked  he  of  the  major. 

"  Ten  minutes  ago,  as  soon  as  they  could  repair  the  wires  which 
were  cut.  The  sheriff  is  on  his  way  out  here  now." 

"  Where  is  the  paymaster?" 

"  They're  coming  up  on  a  freight  from  Minden  this  afternoon,  he 
and  his  clerk." 


168  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

"  But — I  don't  understand,"  said  Morgan  :  "  how  on  earth  did  he 
get  to  Minden  ?  Why  did  he  come  so  far  west  ?  The  escort  was  to 
meet  him  at  Alkali,  so  I  was  told." 

"  That's  just  what  nobody  understands,  and  what  he'll  explain  later, 
I  presume." 

An  orderly  came  hastily  from  the  direction  of  the  office,  and, 
halting,  saluted  the  post  commander. 

"  The  sergeant-major  says  they  were  assigned  to  C  Company,  sir, 
for  rations." 

There  was  an  awkward  silence  a  moment.  Finally  the  commander 
wheeled  on  Morgan  : 

"  You've  known  those  couriers  some  time,  haven't  you,  Mr. 
Morgan  ?  What  is  their  reputation  ?" 

"Our  men,  sir?  Schultz  and  Schramm,  do  you  mean?  Why, 
major,  the  sergeant  is  one  of  our  veterans,  a  man  we  all  trust.  Schramm 
is  not  a  year  with  us  yet,  but  he's  as  good  as  they  make  'em,  I  think, 
in  Germany.  Surely  they  are  not  suspected?  They  came  in  with 
orders  and  despatches." 

"  Very  true,  but  they  passed  within  sight  of  Minden  if  they  came 
back  by  the  trail,  and  through  it  if  they  followed  the  stage  road.  They 
may  have  seen  or  heard  something.  At  all  events,  I  wish  to  question 
them,"  was  the  major's  answer.  "  What  time  did  they  reach  the  post, 
Mr.  Adjutant?" 

"  Just  at  guard-mounting,  sir." 

Rhett  pondered  a  moment.  "  The  colonel's  note  says  he  was  aroused 
at  midnight  by  couriers  from  the  agency  who  had  had  a  hard  ride  and 
could  go  no  farther.  But  for  his  orders  to  meet  the  paymaster  at 
Willow  Springs  to-day,  he  says,  he  would  have  pushed  on  to  Painted 
Lodge, — made  a  forty-mile  march.  It  really  looks  very  threatening 
down  the  valley,  and  now  that  the  money's  gone  and  the  paymaster 
can't  reach  him  I'm  in  hopes  he  will  push  ahead.  Already  people 
are  wiring  out  here  from  town,  asking  whether  the  Indian  rumors 
are  true.  They've  got  a  story  there  that  ten  people  were  killed  yes 
terday." 

"Yes,  sir,"  put  in  the  adjutant;  "our  market-man  brought  it  out 
here  an  hour  ago.  It's  going  all  over  the  post.  They  say  in  town  one 
reason  there's  no  chance  of  catching  these  robbers  is  that  the  cavalry 
has  been  ordered  to  come  on  with  all  speed,  and  that  a  courier  rode  out 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  169 

to  them  from  Minden  before  daybreak  this  morning.  Despatches 
were  sent  them  before  the  line  was  cut." 

Away  on  the  winding  road  to  the  southwest  towards  the  distant 
frontier  town  a  couple  of  wagons  could  be  seen  slowly  moving  towards 
the  post.  Beyond  them  little  dust-clouds,  rapidly  sailing  over  the 
plain,  told  where  fleeter  horsemen  were  speeding.  The  men  coming 
out  from  their  dinner  were  gathering  in  groups  on  the  verandas, 
chatting  in  low  tones  and  watching  the  group  of  officers.  Presently 
the  orderly  came  hurrying  back  alone. 

"  What  orders  did  you  give  those  couriers,  Mr.  Wood  ?" 

"  Nothing  especial,  sir.  Schultz  asked  if  they  were  at  liberty  to 
start  back  as  soon  as  they  wished,  and  I  said  yes." 

"  Then  they  must  be  taking  a  nap,"  said  the  major.     "  What  with 

being  up  most  of  last  night  and  having  to  ride   all  to-night,  they 

need  it.    Their  consciences  are  clear  if  they  can  sleep  all  the  morning." 

The  orderly  reached  them  as  the  major  concluded,  halted  half  a 

dozen  paces  away,  and  reported  : 

"  Sergeant  Shea  says  the  couriers  left  nearly  an  hour  ago,  sir." 

"  Left  an  hour  ago  !     Which  way  ?" 

"  He  doesn't  know,  sir.  Private  Burns  says  he  saw  them  ride 
away  after  the  quartermaster's  corral  at  11.30, — going  towards  town." 


VI. 

It  was  one  o'clock  that  afternoon  before  the  sheriff  reached  the 
post.  Butteville,  the  thriving  county  seat,  lay  just  five  miles  away 
to  the  southwest,  and  a  hard  prairie  road  connected  it  with  the  post. 
As  a  distributing  point  to  the  mines  and  a  market  for  the  ranchmen 
the  growing  town  had  shot  rapidly  into  importance.  Two  banks,  both 
reliable,  two  hotels,  well  patronized,  and  shops  and  stores  in  good 
number,  were  barely  able  to  supply  the  demands.  Dozens  of  bustling 
men  breakfasted  every  morning  at  the  big  eating-house  of  the  railway 
company,  where  the  west-bound  express  was  supposed  to  find  ample 
sustenance  for  its  passengers  before  pushing  on  for  the  long  day's  run 
through  the  mountains.  The  sheriff  and  the  coroner,  as  was  the  case 
in  most  frontier  cities  of  the  day,  were  by  long  odds  the  hardest-worked 
officials,  and  just  now  the  sheriff  was  fairly  used  up.  The  first  inti 
mation  of  anything  wrong  east  of  Butteville  was  the  sudden  stop  of 
H  15 


170  SERGEANT  C1KESUS. 

the  wires.  Up  to  daybreak  train-despatchers  and  night  operators  sit 
ting,  red-eyed  and  weary,  over  their  instruments,  after  the  long  hours 
of  vigil,  found  everything  working  smoothly.  The  night  had  been 
still,  neither  storm  nor  excitement  anywhere  along  the  line,  until  just 
about  four  o'clock  Butte,  called  up  by  Pawnee  Station,  was  asked, 
"  What's  afire  at  Alkali  ?"  Butte  didn't  know, — hadn't  heard.  Paw 
nee  explained  that  a  despatch  for  Paymaster  Graves  from  Minden  met 
No.  3  at  Pawnee,  and  said  bridge  was  down  at  Alkali.  Two  ranch 
men  from  over  Painted  Lodge  way  rode  into  Pawnee  at  three  A.M. 
and  said  hell  was  broke  loose  down  the  Mini  Ska, — Sioux  scalping 
and  burning  everything  in  sight.  Where  were  Colonel  Winthrop  and 
the  cavalry  ?  Butte  answered  :  The  colonel  and  six  companies  had 
marched  for  Painted  Lodge  two  days  before,  couldn't  be  far  from 
Alkali  now.  Sioux  wouldn't  dare  come  that  far  up  the  valley.  Who 
said  the  bridge  was  down  and  burnt  ?  Pawnee  replied :  Hold  on  a 
minute.  More  refugees  from  valley  are  reported  hurrying  to  the  rail 
way,  and  Pawnee  wanted  to  see  the  ranchmen  who  first  came  before 
they  got  good  and  drunk  and  couldn't  talk  reliably.  Perhaps  Minden 
could  tell  about  the  bridge  at  Alkali.  Butte  called  Minden  accordingly. 
Minden  said  some  of  the  cavalry  had  come  up  from  Alkali  an  hour 
before,  said  they'd  been  sent  to  Alkali  in  the  first  place  to  meet  the 
Paymaster  on  No.  3,  but  they  found  the  bridge  across  the  Mini  Ska 
afire,  so  the  ambulance,  escort,  etc.,  were  all  on  the  way  up  to  Minden, 
and  these  two  rode  ahead  with  a  despatch  for  Major  Graves,  explaining 
the  situation  and  telling  him  to  keep  on  and  meet  them  here.  Minden 
sent  it  to  Pawnee,  and  Pawnee  gave  it  to  the  porter  of  the  sleeping-car. 
That's  all  Minden  knew  about  fire  or  anything  else.  Butteville  was 
the  west  end  of  the  division,  however,  and  Butteville  demanded  fur 
ther  particulars, — told  Mindeu  to  ask  the  cavalry  if  any  of  the  build 
ings  at  Alkali  were  reported  afire.  Minden  said  wait  a  minute,  he'd 
find  out:  No.  3's  head-light  just  coming  around  Buffalo  Bluff.  The 
soldiers  had  gone  out  to  meet  the  lieutenant  as  soon  as  assured  that 
the  despatch  had  been  delivered  to  No.  3,  and  they  were  now  watering 
their  horses  at  the  creek.  It  was  just  light  enough  to  see  them  out 
there.  Then  No.  3  reached  Mindeu,  was  duly  reported  in  and  out, 
and  then  the  wires  went  down.  No.  3  came  into  Butteville  at  break 
fast  on  time  and  all  right.  The  division  superintendent  asked  what 
was  the  matter  at  Alkali  Station,  and  the  conductor  replied,  nothing 
that  he  knew  of.  They  had  come  lively  down  Antelope  grade  and 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  171 

struck  the  Mini  Ska  valley,  running  forty-five  miles  an  hour,  which 
they  didn't  check,  as  Major  Graves's  telegram  said,  "  Come  on  to 
Minden."  Had  he  seen  the  despatch?  Why,  certainly.  It  was  all 
right,  signed  by  some  lieutenant  or  other,  commanding  escort.  Had 
he  seen  no  fire  at  Alkali?  Oh,  yes,  over  on  the  bank  of  the  stream 
five  hundred  yards  or  so  from  the  station  there  was  some  fire.  Thought 
it  was  only  a  camp-fire  or  two.  There  were  two  or  three  men,  soldiers, 
he  thought,  on  the  old  platform,  but  it  was  barely  dawn,  and  the 
engine  left  such  a  trail  of  smoke  and  steam  that  the  men  were  en 
veloped  in  it,  and  he  couldn't  make  them  out  distinctly.  No.  3 
dropped  the  major  and  his  clerk  at  Minden,  where  other  soldiers  met 
him,  and  then  hurried  on.  "  What's  the  trouble?"  "  Well,"  said  the 
superintendent,  "since  the  moment  you  pulled  out  from  Minden  to 
this  moment,  Mr.  Hart,  we  have  been  cut  off.  Not  a  word  can  we  get 
from  the  east." 

By  the  time  the  express  pushed  on  for  the  west  again  a  couple  of 
hand-cars  had  been  despatched  eastward  in  the  vain  hope  of  finding 
the  break  near  town,  and  these  were  overhauled  ten  miles  out  by  the 
engine  and  caboose  sent  scouting  down  the  valley.  Not  until  they  were 
within  a  mile  of  Minden  did  they  find  the  gap,  and  along  there  the 
wires  had  been  clipped  in  half  a  dozen  places.  The  superintendent 
gathered  the  particulars  while  his  men  were  patching.  Here  at  the 
station,  surrounded  by  a  knot  of  excited  ranchmen  and  settlers,  were 
Major  Graves  and  his  clerk,  but  all  they  had  to  show  was  the  telegram. 
It  read  plainly  enough  : 

"  Minden  Station,  June  3,  3.05  A.M.  Major  Graves,  U.  S.  Army, 
on  No.  3,  Pawnee  Station.  Bridge  down  at  Alkali.  Cannot  cross 
Mini  Ska.  Come  on  to  Minden  :  escort  meet  you  there. 

"  EDWARDS,  Lieutenant  Commanding." 

Never  suspecting  anything  wrong,  Major  Graves  sent  his  clerk  to 
notify  the  conductor  and  show  him  the  despatch.  The  porter  made 
them  coffee  and  a  light  breakfast  at  the  buffet,  so  as  to  enable  them  to 
start  at  once  for  the  longer  ride  that  their  going  on  to  Minden  would 
necessitate.  They  were  met  as  they  jumped  off  the  car  by  a  couple 
of  troopers  in  overcoats,  thimble-belts,  and  the  slouch-hat  then  much 
affected  by  the  cavalry  on  campaigns.  "  This  way,  sir,"  said  one : 
"  the  lieutenant  says  the  escort's  ready  to  start  the  moment  the  major 
is."  He  made  a  move  to  take  the  valise,  but  instinctively  the  major 


172  SERGEANT  CBCESUS. 

held  on.  The  train  pulled  out  as  they  stepped  around  to  the  rear  of 
the  de"|>6t.  Graves  could  see  a  little  knot  of  horsemen  close  to  the 
stream.  "  The  boys  will  be  glad  to  see  you,  sir,  and  we've  a  long  ride 
ahead  of  us,"  said  his  conductor,  and  in  another  moment  Graves  was 
tripped,  thrown  heavily  to  the  ground,  bound,  and  gagged,  and  there 
he  lay  helpless,  while  his  clerk  was  similarly  handled,  and  away  went 
the  valise  with  its  precious  thousands,  he  had  no  idea  whither.  He 
saw  only  three  or  four  men  in  all,  but  they  were  all  in  cavalry  over 
coats,  and  the  horses  and  equipments,  so  far  as  he  could  judge  in  the 
light  and  distance,  looked  like  those  of  the  regulars, — not  cowboys  or 
road-agents.  They  vanished  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  and  not  until 
they  had  been  gone  fifteen  minutes  or  more  did  the  station  agent  dis 
cover  the  plight  of  the  paymaster  and  release  him.  Meantime,  the 
wires  had  been  cut.  Pursuit  was  useless.  No  one  knew  who  the 
robbers  were,  or  which  way  they  had  gone  after  crossing  the  bridge. 
But  an  early  bird  around  the  station  said  he  saw  two  soldiers  gallop 
ing  west  along  the  north  bank  of  the  stream,  and  all  Minden — what 
there  was  of  it — was  ready  to  swear  that  soldiers  were  at  the  bottom 
of  the  whole  aifair. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  before  they  could  send  a  despatch  to  Butte.  It 
was  barely  4.45  when  the  robbery  took  place.  It  was  noon,  as  we 
have  seen,  when  the  news  reached  the  fort,  and  one  o'clock  when  the 
sheriff  got  there. 

"  Cowboys  !  Road-agents  !"  said  he,  indignantly.  "  No,  sir.  We 
hung  the  last  of  them  two  months  ago.  There  isn't  a  road-agent  left 
in  Latimer  County.  Those  robbers  were  soldiers, — cavalrymen,  de 
serters  from  Colonel  Winthrop's  command.  Fisk,  the  operator  at 
Minden,  will  swear  to  their  identity,  at  least  of  the  two  who  came  in 
with  the  despatch.  Of  course  he  sent  it  when  he  saw  Lieutenant 
Edwards's  name  signed  and  they  told  him  so  straight  a  story.  You 
send  couriers  after  Colonel  Winthrop,  find  out  who  are  absent  from  the 
battalion,  and  you'll  know  who  your  robbers  are.  Then  I  can  do 
something." 

"  Did  you  pass  any  of  our  men  on  your  way  out  from  town  ?" 
asked  Rhett,  after  a  moment's  pause. 

"Your  men?  Soldiers?  Nothing  but  the  ordnance  sergeant  and 
some  wagons.  Who  were  they,  and  where'd  they  go?" 

"  I  don't  know  that  they  did  go — that  way,  at  least.  Two  cou 
riers  came  with  despatches  this  morning  from  Colonel  Winthrop  and 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  173 

left  at  11.30  to  rejoin  him.  Some  one  said  they  didn't  go  east,  how 
ever,  but  struck  out  for  town." 

"  What  were  their  names  ?  What  were  they  like  ?"  asked  the 
sheriff,  eagerly. 

"  They  are  two  of  our  best  men,"  answered  the  major.  "  Mr. 
Morgan,  here,  knows  them  well.  They  are  Germans, — about  the  last 
men  likely  to  become  highway-robbers." 

"  Humph  !  I'd  stake  my  commission  on  their  innocence,"  said 
Morgan,  briefly. 

"  Oh,  of  course  all  men  are  innocent  until  proved  guilty,"  said  the 
sheriff,  crushingly.  "  All  the  same  it's  my  business  to  look  after  them. 
You  say  they  went  to  town  instead  of  back  on  the  trail  of  the  bat 
talion,  major?" 

"  I  did  not,"  was  the  major's  chilling  reply.  "  I  said  somebody 
else  said  that  they  had  struck  out  for  town.  Very  possibly  they  had 
business  there;  and  they  were  not  under  my  jurisdiction,  anyhow." 

"  No ;  they're  under  mine,"  said  the  sheriff.  "  Men  need  funds,  as  a 
rule,  to  transact  business  in  Butte,  and  soldiers  without  money  have 
little  business  so  far  off  their  track.  If  they  have  money  when  their 
comrades  haven't,  where'd  they  get  it  ?" 

"  Well,  Schultz,  the  sergeant,  has  been  in  service  some  twenty  years, 
and  is  reported  to  have  saved  up  much  more  money  than  I  ever  hope 
or  expect  to,"  said  Rhett.  "  I  presume  his  bank-account  can  be 
ascertained  at  the  First  National.  Schramm,  the  other,  isn't  a  year  in 
service." 

"  Schramm  ?"  exclaimed  the  sheriff.  "  A  good-looking,  blue-eyed 
little  Dutchman?" 

"A  good-looking,  blue-eyed,  medium-sized,  slender  young  German, 
if  you  like,  Mr.  Sheriff,"  said  Morgan.  "  What  have  you  to  say  about 
him?" 

"  Oh,  I'm  saying  nothing.  I  want  you  gentlemen  to  talk.  That 
young  fellow  gets  nearly  thirteen  dollars  a  month,  doesn't  he,  major?" 

"  Well,  rather  less  than  that,  Mr.  Sheriff." 

"  Does  he  own  a  mine  or  a  faro- bank  hereabouts,  or  is  he  in  cahoots 
with  Curran  ?"  asked  the  civilian. 

"  If  he  is,  he's  a  dead  loser  this  time,"  said  the  post  adjutant, 
shortly, — he  being  a  young  officer  deeply  imbued  with  the  proper  idea 
of  deference  to  a  commanding  officer  and  resentful  of  civilian  imperti 
nence,  even  on  the  part  of  a  sheriff'.  "  Old  Curran  was  at  Alkali  wait- 

15* 


174  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

ing  for  first  pick  at  the  paymaster's  dollars.  Now  his  beggars  on 
horseback  are  off  for  six  months'  service  against  the  Sioux,  and  he'll 
lose  most  of  their  accounts." 

"  So  he  has  no  means  outside  of  his  pay,  this  young  Deutscher  ? 
Well,  that's  what  I  wanted  to  know." 

"  Fortunes  outside  of  the  pay  are  not  often  to  be  found  in  the 
army,"  answered  the  major.  "  What  makes  you  think  Schramm  has 
one?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't,"  said  the  sheriff.  "  But  I  believe  he  has  more  money 
than  he  can  easily  account  for,  and  the  sooner  he  is  overhauled  the 
quicker  we'll  know  something  of  this  morning's  work."  And  with 
that  the  sheriff  whirled  his  cayuse  about,  and,  giving  him  a  touch  with 
the  quirt,  went  bounding  lightly  away  to  the  corrals. 

"  Tha'  fellow's  a  brute,"  said  Mr.  Woods,  presently.  "  You  don't 
suppose  he  really  suspects  Schramm,  do  you,  Morgan?"  But  Morgan, 
gripping  his  stick,  was  already  trudging  angrily  away. 

That  night  the  paymaster  himself  arrived  at  Fort  Ransom,  leaving 
his  faithful  clerk  in  conference  with  the  officials  in  town.  Graves  was 
soon  the  centre  of  an  eager  gathering  at  Rhett's  quarters.  By  this 
time,  too,  Curran  was  back,  coming  up  on  the  afternoon  freight.  He 
had  gone  down  to  Alkali  by  the  east-bound  express  the  previous  even 
ing.  The  escort  was  already  there,  bivouacked  for  the  night  at  the 
edge  of  the  stream.  They  were  up  betimes  and  had  a  hot  breakfast  all 
ready  for  Graves,  and  were  surprised  to  see  the  train  shoot  past  instead 
of  stopping  to  let  him  off.  Not  until  the  engine  sent  out  from  Butte 
came  steaming  down  at  noon  did  they  know  what  had  taken  place  at 
Minden.  Then  there  was  nothing  left  him  but  to  return  by  the  first 
opportunity.  The  sergeant  and  detachment  remained  awaiting  orders, 
as  the  paymaster  might  draw  funds  from  the  bank  at  Butte  and  come 
on  again.  Just  as  lie  was  leaving  on  the  afternoon  freight  a  courier 
came  to  Alkali  with  orders  for  the  sergeant,  and  the  messenger  said 
that  the  battalion  had  reached  Willow  Springs  and  was  surprised  to 
find  no  paymaster  there.  News  from  the  lower  valley  was  so  threaten 
ing  that  Colonel  Winthrop  had  determined,  after  resting  a  couple  of 
hours,  to  push  on  for  Painted  Lodge,  upon  the  supposition  that  the 
paymaster  had  missed  No.  3.  The  escort  was  ordered  to  wait  for  him 
until  next  train  from  the  east,  and  then,  whether  he  came  or  not,  to 
rejoin  the  battalion  by  the  shortest  route,  following  down  the  left  bank, 
and  bringing  the  extra  ammunition  shipped  from  Ransom. 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  175 

Curran  was  utterly  disgusted  with  the  whole  affair.  "  Ten  chances  to 
one,"  said  he,  "  them  fellows  will  never  come  back  to  the  post,  and  I'll 
never  get  a  cint  of  me  money."  Curran,  as  the  party  most  interested, 
was  persistent  in  his  cross-questioning  of  the  major,  who  was  eager 
enough  to  explain,  but  not  to  Curran.  In  brief,  he  said  he  had  brought 
in  that  sole-leather  valise  nearly  twelve  thousand  dollars  with  which 
to  pay  Winthrop's  command.  The  rest  of  his  funds,  sealed  in  his 
little  iron  safe,  were  turned  over  to  the  express  company  to  be  for 
warded  to  Butte,  two  days  later  on,  by  which  time  he  had  expected  to 
return  to  pay  the  infantry  at  the  fort  and  then  go  on  to  the  outlying 
posts  to  the  northwest.  By  evening,  too,  Rhett  had  received  tele 
graphic  orders  to  hold  his  little  battalion  of  foot  in  readiness  to  take 
train  to  Pawnee  and  thence  march  across  the  range  to  the  lower  Mini 
Ska.  Although  exaggerated,  the  reports  of  rapine  and  murder  were 
only  too  true.  The  Sioux  were  indeed  at  their  devilish  work.  In  the 
subdued  bustle  of  preparation  the  paymaster's  excitement  and  distress 
of  mind  created  less  sympathy  than  would  ordinarily  have  been  the 
case.  Eagerly  he  was  showing  his  despatch  to  officer  after  officer,  and 
asking  whether  any  one  would  not  have  acted  just  as  he  did  under  the 
circumstances  and  on  receipt  of  so  genuine  a  message,  and  gentlemen 
who  under  other  circumstances  would  unhesitatingly  have  said  yes 
were  now  disposed  to  be  a  bit  conservative,  to  look  judicial  and  suggest 
inquiries.  Wouldn't  it  have  been  better  to  stop  the  train  at  Alkali 
and  see  if  the  report  were  true?  The  bridge  was  only  half  a  mile 
from  the  station,  and  somebody  would  have  been  sure  to  know.  These 
are  times  when  everybody's  backsight  is  so  much  better  than  his  fore 
sight.  Everybody  could  see  with  half  an  eye  that  had  the  paymaster 
caused  the  conductor  to  stop  the  train  at  Alkali  some  of  the  escort 
would  have  been  on  the  platform  to  meet  him,  and  they  would  have 
told  him  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  world  the  matter  with  the 
bridge,  that  the  whole  thing  was  a  plant.  But  Graves  pointed  out 
that  he  didn't  own  the  road  and  couldn't  make  the  train  stop  unless  he 
meant  to  get  off,  which  he  didn't.  Lieutenant  Edwards  had  wired 
him  to  come  on  to  Minden.  Everybody  knew  Edwards.  He  had 
escorted  Graves  on  the  winter  trip  to  the  Black  Hills  cantonment.  It 
was  most  natural  Edwards  should  have  been  selected  to  escort  him  this 
time.  He  was  with  the  battalion,  first  lieutenant  of  Captain  Frank 
Amory's  troop.  True,  as  matters  turned  out,  Edwards  had  not  been 
sent  at  all.  Old  Sergeant  Daly,  with  eight  troopers,  was  considered 


176  SERGEANT  CR(ESUS. 

amply  sufficient.  Of  course  it  was  a  plant,  a  most  successful  plant, 
and  more  than  likely,  said  the  paymaster,  somebody  closely  connected 
with  the  cavalry  had  engineered  the  whole  scheme.  Everybody  knew 
there  were  some  very  shady  characters  among  the  men  enlisting  during 
the  Centennial  year.  Everybody  knew  what  train  would  fetch  him 
out  from  department  head -quarters.  The  plotters  would  not  wire  in 
time  to  admit  of  his  making  inquiries,  but  waited  until  the  last 
moment,  then,  dressed  and  equipped  as  the  cavalry  were  dressed  and 
equipped,  they  had  sent  two  of  their  number  in  to  Minden  Station 
with  a  despatch  signed  by  an  officer  whom  they  reported  a  mile  or 
two  behind,  coming  up  with  the  wagon  and  main  body.  Everything 
looked  straight  to  the  operator,  and  so  it  was  sent  to  Pawnee  and  there 
handed  to  the  Pullman  porter.  What  could  have  been  more  complete? 
The  troopers  who  met  him  at  the  platform  addressed  him  confidently 
and  respectfully,  saluting  exactly  like  old  soldiers.  Of  course  he 
hadn't  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  entire  regiment,  but  this  he 
would  say  and  did  say,  that  he  believed  Mr.  Lacy,  his  clerk,  was 
willing  to  swear  that  the  two  men  who  met  him  at  Minden  were  bona 
fide  members  of  the  Eleventh  Cavalry ;  Mr.  Lacy  had  seen  them 
before,  and  could  identify  them  if  he  were  to  see  them  again.  The 
sheriff's  people  were  already  working  on  the  clue. 

It  was  nearly  tattoo  that  evening  when  Morgan  left  the  major's 
and  went  slowly  homeward.  Voices  in  eager  conversation  were  audi 
ble  in  the  kitchen  as  he  entered,  then  became  as  suddenly  still  and  the 
door  was  quickly  closed.  It  was  his  custom  to  go  to  the  children's 
room  and  kiss  and  pet  them  a  little  after  Connie  had  prompted  them 
through  their  prayers, — devotions  over  which,  in  their  infantile  de 
pravity,  they  were  far  more  apt  to  fall  asleep  than  during  the  subse 
quent  ceremony.  But  the  sounds  from  aloft  as  he  entered  were  those 
of  lively  contention  rather  than  adoration,  lively  controversy  rather 
than  the  lisping  prayers  of  childish  lips.  Lot  and  Billy  were  still  up 
and  astir,  it  was  evident,  and  so  engrossed  in  their  tilt  that  the  father's 
slow  coming  up  the  creaking  stairway  failed  to  divert  their  attention. 
Halting  at  the  door  and  looking  in,  the  veteran  trooper  enjoyed  a 
coup-d'ceil  of  the  scene.  Perched  on  the  bed  in  the  bifurcated  vest 
ment  of  canton  flannel  referred  to  as  his  "  nighties"  was  the  burly  son 
and  heir,  barefooted,  flushed,  truculent,  bouncing  up  and  down  on  the 
bed-springs  as  he  conversed  with  his  sister,  who,  equally  flushed,  if  a 
trifle  less  confident  in  mien,  and  just  about  half  undressed,  was  stand- 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  177 

ing  with  one  of  her  spring-heeled,  buttoned  boots  in  hand,  half  con 
cealed,  half  disclosed,  as  though  she  lacked  determination  to  hurl  it 
after  its  mate,  now  reposing  on  top  of  the  bureau  beyond  the  bed, 
surrounded  by  the  wreck  of  a  glass  toilet-set,  once  their  mother's, — 
Aunt  Lottie's  one  present  to  her  army  sister. 

"  I  don't  care,"  said  Lot,  sturdily ;  "  you  did  it." 

"  Oh,  you're  worse'n  Annanice  Afire !    I  didn't !" 

"  You  did,  too  !  and  you  shan't  call  names." 

"  I  shall  if  you  'cuse  me  again,"  said  Billy,  stoutly.  "  You  fired 
that  shoe  at  me  when  I  wasn't  even  lookin'  at  dolly,  and  it  smashed 
everything." 

"  I  don't  care,"  reiterated  Lot :  "  it  was  all  your  fault.  It  never 
would  have  hit  'em  at  all  if — if  you  hadn't  dodged.  So  there !" 
And  then  Lot,  triumphant,  turned,  saw  her  father's  grave  face,  and 
lost  her  nerve.  Running  to  him,  she  burst  into  tears,  whereupon  Billy 
began  to  whimper  sympathetically. 

"  Hush,  Lottie.  Never  mind  who  did  it  now,"  said  Morgan,  taking 
her  in  his  arms.  "  Hush,  child.  We'll  settle  that  some  other  time. 
Where's  Connie  ?  Where  was  she  when  this  happened  ?" 

"  Mammy  called  her  to  the  kitchen.  Sergeant  Hinkel's  wife  corned," 
sobbed  Lottie,  "  and  she  told  Billy  not  to  step  on  my  dolly,  and  he — 

he — -just  danced  it  off  the  bed  a  purpose,  and  I — and  I "  and  here 

the  sobs  overmastered  her,  and  Billy  came  tumbling  off  his  perch  in 
dire  dismay.  And  this  was  the  situation  when  Connie's  low  voice  and 
fleet  footsteps  were  heard  on  the  stairway,  and  Little  Mother  came 
hurrying  in.  One  glance  told  her  what  had  happened.  She  flew 
around  the  bed  to  the  bureau. 

"Oh,  Lottie,  Lottie,  how  could  you?"  she  cried.  "Our  dear 
mother's  set, — Aunt  Lottie's  present !" 

"  Never  mind,  Connie,  never  mind  it  now,  dear.  She  wasn't  aim 
ing  at  it,"  said  paterfamilias,  with  his  patient  smile. 

"  She  was  aimin'  at  me !"  burst  in  Billy,  whose  distress  at  sight  of 
Lottie's  grief  was  suddenly  tempered  by  the  prospect  of  her  getting 
off  scot-free,  as  was  too  often  the  case  when  the  father  administered 
justice,  "  and  then  she  said  I  did  it  'cause  I  dodged." 

"  Well,  he  called  me  names,"  sobbed  Lottie, — "  said  I  was  worse'n 
Anuanice  Afire." 

"What  on  earth  is  Annanice  Afire?"  asked  Morgan  blankly  of 
his  eldest. 
H* 


178  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

"  Nothing,  father  dear.  I  read  them  the  story  of  Ananias  and 
Sapphira  when  Billy  told  a  story  the  other  day.  Let  me  undress 
Lottie,  now. — Come,  child." 

But  Morgan  noticed  instantly  how  nervous  and  flurried  was  her 
manner,  how  tremulous  and  cold  her  hand.  His  little  Connie,  his  big 
tall  Connie  now,  so  tenderly,  so  fondly  loved.  Not  until  the  little 
ones  had  forgotten  their  squabble,  had  begged  each  other's  forgiveness 
at  Connie's  knee  and  cried  themselves  blissfully  to  sleep,  did  the  father 
see  her  again.  She  seemed  to  busy  herself  a  long  time  aloft  instead 
of  coming  down  to  his  den.  Meantime,  Fenton,  officer  of  the  day, 
came  hurriedly  in : 

"  Here's  the  latest,  Morgan.  Schultz  and  Schramm  took  dinner 
together  at  Conway's  restaurant,  leaving  their  horses  at  the  Empire 
stable,  and  didn't  start  until  nearly  three  o'clock.  The  sheriff  has 
sent  a  posse  after  them.  He  claims  that  Lacy's  description  of  the 
robbers  fits  them  both." 

"  Blatherskite  !"  said  Morgan. 

"  Well,  that  isn't  all.  Khett's  got  a  despatch  from  the  chief.  We 
go  at  daybreak.  Special  train.  You'll  be  K.O.  here  to-morrow. 
The  despatch  from  Pawnee  says  ranchmen  report  an  officer  and  his 
orderly  killed  and  scalped  not  twenty  miles  from  Painted  Lodge. 
Better  come  over  to  the  office  awhile." 

"  I'll  be  there  in  a  minute,"  said  Morgan,  rising  stiffly.  "  Con 
nie  !"  he  called  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs.  "  Connie  !" 

No  answer.  Slowly,  wonderingly,  he  climbed  the  little  stairs. 
Her  door  was  open,  the  room  dark  ;  the  night-lamp  burning  dimly  in 
the  children's  room  threw  but  a  faint  beam  through  the  connecting 
door- way.  Groping  in,  he  became  aware  of  something  dark  upon 
Connie's  white  bed.  It  was  his  child,  her  head  between  the  pillows  as 
though  to  shut  out  every  sound. 

"  Constance  !"  he  exclaimed,  distressed,  dismayed.  She  started  up, 
her  hands  clasped  to  her  temples.  Then,  as  though  overwhelmed  with 
the  realization  of  some  haunting  dread,  she  bowed  her  face  upon  his 
arm,  quivering  from  head  to  foot,  and  with  one  low  moan  of  "  Papa," 
— the  old  baby  name  seeming  to  come  most  readily  to  her  lips, — 
"  Papa,  they've  killed  him !" — sank  back  upon  the  pillow. 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  179 


VII. 

The  doctor  was  needed  for  Constance  that  night,  and  Mrs.  Fenton 
and  Mrs.  Woods,  loving  women  both,  came  in  to  minister  to  her,  so 
utterly  was  she  unnerved,  unstrung.  Morgan  knew  not  what  to  say 
or  think.  It  was  no  time  now  to  ask  to  see  the  letter  she  had  begged 
him  to  read.  It  was  no  time  to  torture  her  with  inquiry  as  to  why 
the  belief  in  Thornton's  death  should  so  utterly  prostrate  her,  even 
were  the  belief  itself  justifiable, — which  he  did  not  at  all  concede. 
Ranchmen  reported  an  officer  and  his  orderly  killed  in  the  Mini  Ska 
valley  far  to  the  north  of  Pawnee  Station  that  evening  about  dusk. 
Ranchmen  were  proverbially  sensational.  Even  if  an  officer  had  been 
killed,  why  should  it  be  Thornton  ?  True,  Winthrop's  was  the  only 
command  in  the  valley  at  the  moment.  True,  the  Indians  knew  of 
their  coming,  for  what  movement  of  troops  did  they  not  know  all  about 
as  soon  as  the  troops  themselves?  If  an  officer  had  been  killed,  it  very 
possibly  was  one  of  the  Eleventh.  From  the  landing  at  the  head  of 
the  stairs  Constance  had  heard  the  abrupt  announcement  of  Captain 
Fenton,  and,  waiting  for  no  explanation,  had  rushed  to  her  bed.  Why 
should  she  believe  Thornton  to  have  been  the  victim  ?  And,  even  if 
he  were,  why  should  it  so  affect  her  ? — the  apple  of  his  eye,  his  loving, 
winsome,  loyal  Connie,  his  "  Little  Mother,"  as  he  had  so  long  called 
her?  Morgan  wrung  his  hands  in  distress  and  perplexity. 

The  doctor  came  in  after  his  brief  examination. 

"  The  child  has  been  running  down  all  winter,"  he  said.  "  She  is 
in  a  low,  nervous  condition,  the  natural  result  of  the  long  strain.  She 
has  had  a  woman's  cares  on  a  child's  shoulders,  Morgan,  and  any  shock 
was  likely  to  upset  her.  The  sudden  news  that  one  of  her  friends  was 
killed  was  quite  enough  to  floor  a  stronger  woman,  let  alone  Connie. 
We'll  have  her  up  again  in  a  day  or  two ;  but  she  ought  to  have  rest 
and  change." 

Rest  and  change !  how  glibly  the  words  fall !  How  leaden  they 
light  on  the  ear  of  husband  and  father  impoverished  in  the  service  and 
bound  to  the  wheel !  How  was  he  to  offer  rest  and  change  to  any  of 
his  brood  ?  If  rest  and  change  could  have  saved  the  life  of  his  beloved 
wife,  how  could  he  have  won  it  for  her  ? 

"  I've  given  Constance  soothing  medicine.  Better  not  disturb  her 
to-night,"  said  the  doctor,  as  he  left :  so  Morgan  ventured  not  to  bend 


180  SERQEAXT  C&fflSUS. 

over  his  sleeping  child,  fearful  of  breaking  the  spell.  Yet  at  dawn, 
when  the  little  battalion  of  foot  marched  off  to  Butte,  she  was  up 
and  at  the  window,  importuning  him  for  latest  news  from  the  front. 
Hours  that  morning  he  had  to  be  at  the  office,  for  despatches  were 
coming  in  thick  and  fast,  ordering  ordnance  stores  and  ammunition 
sent  hither  and  yon,  and  up  to  noon  nothing  whatever  was  heard  from 
Winthrop's  command,  and  the  big  eyes  that  questioned  him,  when  he 
came  to  kiss  Connie's  white  forehead,  were  rimmed  with  mourning 
circles,  as  though  already  she  believed  him  gone  and  for  him  mutely 
wore  her  weeds.  At  three  P.M.  came  a  despatch  from  Rhett,  six  miles 
out  from  Pawnee,  en  route  for  the  Mini  Ska,  dated  at  twelve  :  "  Report 
of  killing  of  officer  and  orderly  untrue.  Lieutenant  Thornton's  horse 
accidentally  shot  while  scouting.  No  other  casualties  heard  of.  Win- 
throp  reported  forty  miles  northeast  of  Painted  Lodge  already." 

Morgan  took  this  over  home  at  once.  Mrs.  Woods,  bonny  little  army 
wife  and  mother  that  she  was,  came  from  Connie's  room,  and  to  her  he 
gave  the  message.  He  would  not  permit  any  one  to  think  he  supposed 
his  child  could  be,  at  her  tender  age,  unduly  interested  in  the  fate  of 
any  man.  Yet  he  found  himself  listening  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs. 
Would  she  cry  out  in  relief  and  joy  ?  No ;  whatsoever  she  might  have 
betrayed  to  him,  Constance  was  on  her  guard  now.  She  was  her 
mother's  daughter  for  "  pure  grit,"  said  he. 

"  Connie  is  so  glad  it  wasn't  true,"  called  Mrs.  Woods,  tossing  the 
brown  paper  down  the  stairs.  "She  wants  to  know  when  you  are 
coming  up  to  see  her  ?" 

"  After  a  while,"  answered  he.  "  I  must  go  to  the  storehouse  first." 
He  hastened  to  his  stock  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  thinking  little 
of  them,  it  must  be  owned, — thinking  little  of  anything  just  now  but 
Connie.  Not  yet  sixteen,  an  innocent,  ignorant,  garrison-bred  girl,  yet 
so  like  her  mother  in  her  own  girlhood,  so  gentle,  unselfish,  thoughtful 
for  others ;  could  it  be  that  all  unsought  she  should  have  given  her 
girlish  heart  to  the  bright-eyed,  merry  young  fellow  who  had  so  sud 
denly  left  them,  and  that  it  was  known — noted  by  others?  If  not, 
why  should  Rhett  have  taken  all  the  trouble  to  send  that  message  tell 
ing  of  Thornton's  safety  ?  Sorrow,  trial,  trouble  of  nearly  every  kind 
had  come  to  him  during  the  last  year  or  so,  but  this  was  something  so 
utterly  unlocked  for.  What  could  he  do  ?  What  should  he  do  ? 

At  the  storehouse,  the  ordnance  sergeant,  aided  by  one  or  two  semi- 
invalided  troopers,  was  packing  cavalry  equipments  to  be  sent  to  a 


CECESUS.  181 

distant  command.  The  glad  June  sunshine  was  pouring  in  at  the  open 
door-way,  and  the  mountain  breeze  was  fresh  and  bracing.  The  men 
were  chatting  in  low  tones  over  their  work,  and  the  talk  was  only  of 
the  robbery.  Graves  was  in  town,  in  consultation  with  the  civil  au 
thorities.  The  local  morning  paper  had  but  two  topics  to  discuss,  the 
Indian  outbreak  and  the  robbery.  It  had  but  one  theory  :  the  Indians 
were  the  malefactors  in  the  first  case,  and  the  soldiers  in  the  second. 
That  cowboys  or  settlers,  ranchmen  or  road-agents,  could  be  the  real 
culprits  was  not  for  an  instant  to  be  believed.  Two  soldiers  closely 
answering  the  description  given  by  Mr.  Lacy,  the  paymaster's  clerk, 
had  been  in  town  for  several  hours  the  previous  day,  patronizing  stables, 
saloons,  and  restaurants,  and  liberally  supplied  with  money,  had  ridden 
away  as  soon  as  details  of  the  robbery  were  being  circulated  about  the 
streets,  and  they  were  now  "  at  large," — that  expressive  term  which  is 
used  by  the  press  when  it  desires  to  imply  that  the  party  enjoying  his 
constitutional  rights  is  probably  a  fugitive  from  justice.  The  sheriff, 
with  efficient  "  posses,"  was  scouring  the  country  in  pursuit.  Officials 
at  the  fort,  professing  to  doubt  the  evidence  laid  before  them,  had  re 
fused  to  co-operate  with  the  civil  authorities  in  securing  their  arrest,  and 
had  insisted  that  the  men  were  merely  returning  on  the  trail  of  Colonel 
Winthrop's  command.  Morgan  had  read  many  a  screed  in  similar 
strain.  It  was  what  his  own  men  were  saying  that  aroused  him  to 
sudden  interest. 

"  Who  was  that  red-headed  chap  was  out  here  last  night  asking  to 
know  where  was  Schramm's  trunk?"  inquired  Private  Geohegan  of  his 
comrade. 

"  Oh,  he's  wan  of  the  sheriff's  gang.  I  misremember  his  name. 
Sure  the  quartermaster-sergeant  told  him  Schramm  carried  his  trunk, 
like  the  elephants,  on  the  end  of  his  nose.  But  he  said  he  knew  he'd 
left  a  box  or  trunk  in  somebody's  care, — Mrs.  Hinkel's,  I  think,  or  the 
wife  of  some  of  the  sergeants.  He  was  nosing  around  the  landresses' 
quarters  half  the  evening." 

"  Was  he  ?     Did  he  get  anything  ?" 

"  He  did.  He  got  some  important  information.  Mrs.  Clancy  tould 
him  she'd  black  his  eye  for  him  if  he  stuck  his  red  head  inside  the 
door,  and  while  she  was  entertaining  the  gentleman  Mrs.  Hinkel  ran 
up  to  the  post  with  a  box,  and  when  she  came  back  the  feller  was  talk 
ing  about  a  search-warrant.  It's  little  of  Schramm's  they'd  find  at  ould 
Hinkel's  now.  She's  took  it  up  to  the  officers'  quarters,  whatever  it  is." 

16 


182  SERGEANT  CRCESVS. 

And  then  Morgan  remembered  the  eager  voice  in  his  kitchen  the 
night  before,  and  Lot's  announcement  that  it  was  Mrs.  Hinkel  who 
begged  to  see  Constance,  and  a  new  light  flashed  across  his  mind,  a 
new  shadow  fell  athwart  his  path.  What  if  the  authorities  were  now 
to  ask  him  where  Schramm's  effects  were  hidden?  What  if  they 
should  demand  the  right  to  examine  them  ?  Morgan  was  no  longer 
simply  a  subaltern  officer,  he  was  the  commander,  pro  tern.,  of  the  big 
and  important  post  of  Fort  Ransom,  and  bound  by  every  consideration 
to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  civil  officials  in  the  enforcement  of  law 
and  in  the  aid  of  civil  process. 

Even  as  he  was  pondering  over  the  matter,  a  horseman  appeared 
in  the  broad  glare  of  the  sunshine  on  the  bare  open  space  in  front. 

"  I'm  looking  for  the  post  commander,"  said  he,  and  handed  him  a 
telegram.  Morgan  mechanically  unfolded  it  and  read  : 

"To  the  Sheriff,  Latimer  County,  Butteville.  Commanding  officer 
Fort  Ransom  instructed  to  give  every  assistance  in  his  power.  You 
will  be  allowed  to  make  all  proper  search." 

This  was  signed  by  the  adjutant-general  of  the  department,  and 
was  presently  supplemented  by  another  which  the  operator  at  the  post 
handed  in.  He  was  in  conversation  with  the  deputy  sheriff  at  the 
moment,  and,  excusing  himself,  Morgan  opened  and  read : 

"  Commanding  Officer,  Fort  Ransom.  Civil  authorities  report 
they  are  hampered  in  search  for  money  stolen  from  Paymaster  Graves. 
Render  every  assistance  and  allow  all  proper  investigation." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  your  people  think  any  of  this  money  is  hidden 
here  at  this  post?"  he  queried. 

"  Well,  sir,  that's  what  some  of  'em  say.  Two  of  our  officers  will 
be  out  here  in  a  moment.  I  rode  ahead  while  they  were  jogging  along 
in  their  buggy.  They  were  here  last  night,  and  Mrs.  Hinkel  was  seen 
toting  a  box  up  into  the  post  just  as  soon  as  she  heard  they  were 
inquiring  for  her  shanty." 

Morgan  turned  away.  Far  out  across  the  winding  ribbon  of  the 
road,  twisting  and  twining  over  the  rolling  surface  of  the  prairie,  he 
could  see  the  black  dots  in  the  light  dust-cloud  that  told  of  the  rapid 
approach  of  the  officers  of  the  law.  Officially  he  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  whereabouts  of  that  box,  nor  even  of  its  existence;  personally 
he  had  now  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  secreted  under  his  own 
roof.  Confident  of  Schramm's  innocence,  he  had  faith  that  nothing 
criminating  could  be  found  in  Schramm's  belongings.  But  suppose 


SERGEANT  CKCESUS.  183 

that  the  box  contained  papers, — personal  and  family  documents  which 
dealt  with  nobody's  business  but  his  own.  What  right  had  they  to 
turn  his  letters  inside  out,  possess  themselves  of  his  secrets,  and  parade 
them  in  the  columns  of  the  press,  as  paraded  they  certainly  would  be? 
It  was  an  embarrassing  question. 

"  What  gave  rise  to  the  suspicion  that  Schramm  had  left  valuables 
in  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Hinkel  ?"  he  asked. 

"Oh,  that  was  easy  to  find  out,"  answered  the  civilian.  "  All  the 
soldiers,  all  the  laundresses,  were  full  of  information  about  Schramm, 
and  the  mere  fact  that  he  held  aloof  from  all  but  a  few  of  their  num 
ber  was  sufficient  to  make  them  suspicious  of  those  with  whom  he  did 
associate.  Mrs.  Hinkel  and  Mrs.  Schultz  were  sisters,  I  am  told,  and 
Schultz  and  Schramm  became  very  friendly.  Schramm,  it  appears, 
spent  many  an  evening  at  Hinkel's,  and  took  a  box  there  when  the 
battalion  was  packing  for  the  field,  and  went  there  with  a  small  bundle 
the  moment  he  got  in  from  the  front,  the  morning  of  the  robbery. 
Now  we  know  just  what  those  two  men  did  in  town,  and  what  we  want 
to  find  out  is  what  they  did  out  here,  what  that  packet  was  and  what 
became  of  it.  To-morrow  we  expect  to  have  the  men  themselves." 

"You  do?     Where?" 

"Oh,  well,  down  the  Ska  somewhere.  They  doubtless  think  that 
the  safest  route.  You  see,  they  couldn't  go  in  any  other  direction 
without  their  being  headed  off  and  its  being  open  admission  of  their 
guilt.  Possibly  they  mean  to  catch  the  regiment,  go  through  the  cam 
paign  with  it,  and  by  and  by,  when  the  thing  has  blown  over,  pull 
out  the  money  that  they've  hidden  hereabouts,  and  have  a  good  time. 
We  have  two  parties  out  after  them  now  :  one,  to  head  them  off,  went 
down  to  Pawnee  by  rail  and  rode  north  from  there ;  the  other  follows 
their  trail.  I  suppose  you  know  we  found  the  valise  ?" 

"No.     Where?" 

"  On  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  not  more  than  a  mile  west  of 
Minden,  sliced  open  with  a  bowie  and  rifled  of  whatever  paper  money 
there  was  in  it  originally.  Nothing  else  was  taken,  so  the  paymaster 
and  clerk  say.  They  even  left  the  nickels  and  dimes.  Evidently 
they  were  in  a  big  hurry." 

Morgan's  sad  eyes  wandered  again  over  the  prairie.  The  buggy 
was  not  a  mile  away,  and  another  was  following.  If  he  could  only 
see  Mrs.  Hinkel  a  moment  before  the  inquisitors  came.  "Sudsville," 
that  bustling  suburb  of  the  army  post  of  those  days,  nestled  along 


184  SERGEANT  CR(ESU8. 

under  the  bank  of  a  little  tributary  of  the  Mini  Ska,  while  the  cavalry 
stables  and  corrals  occupied  the  broad  low  ground  that  skirted  the 
stream  itself  on  the  southward  side  of  the  garrison.  He  had  known 
the  woman  for  years.  She  was  an  honest,  sturdy,  stout-hearted  "  frau," 
devoted  to  her  husband,  the  Hanoverian  sergeant,  and  proud  of  her 
brother-in-law,  the  Prussian  Schultz,  whose  wife  had  died  some  years 
before.  She  held  herself  above  the  run  of  the  colony  of  soldiers' 
wives,  therefore  they  were  not  as  ready  to  lie  for  as  against  her. 
Nevertheless,  she  had  won  even  their  respect ;  but  the  gabble  of  the 
laundresses'  quarters  had  been  amply  sufficient  to  direct  the  scrutiny 
of  the  officials  to  her  doors.  Schramm,  who  left  the  box  with  her 
when  the  battalion  inarched,  had  left  also  a  small  package  with  her 
the  morning  he  and  Schultz  rode  in.  Where  were  box  and  packet, 
and  what  did  they  contain  ?  That  was  what  the  sheriff  was  deter 
mined  to  find  out,  and  so  certain  was  he  of  being  on  the  trail  of  the 
robbers  that  he  had  bidden  Graves  and  his  clerk  to  follow  and  identify 
the  money  that  might  be  recovered.  When  Morgan  saw  the  occupants 
of  the  second  buggy,  as  they  drove  in  by  the  south  gate,  he  went  straight 
to  his  quarters. 

"  Is  Constance  asleep  ?"  he  asked  of  Mrs.  Woods,  as  she  met  him 
at  the  stairs. 

"  No ;  she's  awake,  and  anxious  to  see  you,"  was  the  answer. 

Still  undetermined  what  to  do,  the  father  slowly  climbed  the  steep 
stairway.  Oh,  how  fondly  and  trustfully  the  big  eyes  beamed  upon 
him,  as  he  tiptoed  in  !  Already  his  child  was  looking  better,  almost 
happy.  She  stretched  forth  her  arms  as  he  bent  to  kiss  her. 

"  Dear  old  daddy  !  All  the  worry  seems  to  come  to  you  now,  and 
Connie's  forbidden  to  get  up  and  help  you.  Is  there  any  further  news 
— of  the  robbery,  I  mean?" 

"  Yes."  Then  he  paused  a  moment.  "  Constance,  dear,  the  civil 
authorities  claim  that  they  know  the  robbers, — that  they  are  of  our 
regiment  and  that  we  are  shielding  them.  The  general  orders  me  to 
aid  in  the  search.  They  say  Mrs.  Hinkel  had  a  box  which  belonged 
to  Schrarnm  and  contains  now  some  of  the  stolen  money.  What  box 
did  she  bring  you  last  night?" 

"Schramm's  box,  father,  and  begged  me  not  to  let  it  go.  It  con 
tains  no  stolen  money.  It  holds  papers  and  personal "  But  he 

interrupted  her. 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  185 

"  No  matter  what  it  may  hold,  we  cannot  hold  it  now.  I  do  not 
blame  Mrs.  Hinkel  for  fetching  it  to  you,  but  I  must  have  it  and  the  key." 

"  The  box  is  in  the  lower  drawer  of  the  bureau,  father.  I  have 
no  key  at  all ;  Schramm  has  that.  I  did  not  tell  you,  because  we 
knew  that  if  you  were  questioned  about  it  you  would  have  to  tell  the 
truth,  and  then  poor  Schramm's  letters  would  be  no  longer  sacred." 

"  They  shall  touch  none  of  his  letters  if  I  can  help  it/'  said  Mor 
gan,  "  but  they  must  be  allowed  to  examine  for  themselves." 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  in  the  office  of  the  commanding  officer 
were  Graves  and  his  clerk,  the  sheriff  and  a  deputy,  Morgan  and  the 
post  surgeon,  the  latter  officer  having  been  summoned  at  Morgan's 
request.  On  the  table  was  a  stout  sole-leather  case  about  two  feet  long 
and  six  inches  deep,  shaped  something  like  a  despatch-box,  something 
like  a  valise.  It  was  evidently  of  foreign  make,  strong,  durable,  yet 
showing  signs  of  service  and  wear.  Such  name  as  had  originally  been 
painted  on  its  end  was  long  since  carefully  scraped  and  painted  out. 
In  addition  to  its  straps,  a  strong  brass  clasp  and  padlock  secured  it. 

"  It  seems  a  pity  to  burst  such  a  lock  and  spoil  such  a  case,"  said 
the  doctor,  gravely.  "  I  suppose  you  gentlemen  feel  that  it  must  be 
done?" 

"  Oh,  I  never  had  a  straighter  tip  in  my  life,"  said  the  sheriff. 
"  I  am  betting  on  finding  important  evidence  right  here,  if  not  the 
swag  itself." 

A  soldier  entered  with  some  tools. 

"  One  moment  now,  gentlemen,"  said  Morgan.  "  This  box  is  the 
property  of  a  comparatively  new  soldier  of  ours.  I  believe  he  occu 
pied  higher  station  abroad  than  here.  If  money  be  found  herein,  well 
and  good,  I've  nothing  to  say ;  but  I  protest  against  any  prying  into 
his  personal  secrets.  This  isn't  Russia." 

But  the  very  first  thing  lifted  out  of  the  leathern  box,  as,  its  clasp 
shattered,  it  lay  open  before  their  eyes,  was  a  long,  official  envelope. 
The  sheriff  tore  it  open,  and  therein  lay  ten  fifty-dollar  bills,  national 
currency,  crisp  and  new. 

"  My  God  !"  exclaimed  Lacy,  pale  with  excitement.  "  I  believe  I 
could  almost  swear  that  those  are  some  of  the  very  bills  we  drew  from 
the  First  National." 

"  Do  you  ordinarily  pay  enlisted  men  in  fifty-dollar  bills,  Mr. 
Lacy?"  asked  Morgan. 

"  Certainly  not,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  "  There  were  over  twenty 

16* 


186  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

officers  with  Colonel  "Winthrop's  battalion  :  so  we  brought  a  thousand 
in  one-hundreds  and  two  thousand  in  fifties."  And  Lacy  counted  the 
bills  over  again  with  trembling  fingers.  The  sheriff's  big  red  hands 
were  dragging  out  other  packets  now,  bundle  after  bundle  of  letters, 
old,  faded,  and  stained,  several  little  books  in  German,  three  or  four 
parcels  wrapped  in  silk,  each  of  which,  when  unrolled,  proved  to  con 
tain  portraits.  One  of  a  soldierly,  gray-moustached  man  of  fifty-five 
or  thereabouts,  in  the  conventional  broad -breasted  undress  uniform  of 
the  German  army.  Another, — on  ivory,  this,  and  in  costly  frame, — a 
painting  of  a  lovely  face  with  deep  blue  eyes  and  a  fond,  tender  smile 
about  the  lips, — a  mother  face,  which  appeared  again,  with  more  of 
silver  and  less  of  gold  in  the  curling  hair  that  framed  it,  in  two  or 
three  photographs.  There  was  a  photograph,  too,  of  a  stalwart  young 
lieutenant  in  the  dress  of  the  Uhlans.  Another,  a  boy  not  more  than 
eighteen  or  nineteen,  in  the  uniform  of  the  foot-guards,  with  the  iron 
cross  on  his  breast.  There  was  a  sword-knot  or  two,  and  then  some 
documents,  closely  written  in  German,  filed,  docketed,  and  trimly 
wrapped,  and  these,  one  after  another,  the  sheriif  was  searching  through 
and  swearing  over  because  he  couldn't  understand  them,  when  again 
Morgan  interposed  ; 

"  There's  no  more  money  there,  Mr.  Sheriif.  Surely  there's  no 
reason  for  prying  into  the  man's  family  affairs.  When  the  arrest  is 
made  that  will  be  time  enough.  You've  got  what  money  there  is. 
Kindly  give  me  a  memorandum  receipt  for  that,  and  then  seal  the  case 
up  again.  I  say  again,  I'm  ready  to  bet  anything  both  Schultz  and 
Schramm  will  be  able  to  account  for  every  moment  and  every  dollar. 
All  you  have  to  do  now  is  to  get  them,  which  your  deputies  can  effect 
as  soon  as  they  reach  the  regiment." 

And,  seeing  how  much  Morgan  seemed  to  take  the  matter  to  heart 
and  that  the  officers  evidently  agreed  with  him,  the  sheriff  finally 
consented  ; 

"  All  right ;  only  we've  got  to  take  this  with  us.  We  ought  to 
hear  through  Pawnee  from  the  parties  sent  to  make  the  arrest  by 
to-morrow  night." 

And  hear  they  did,  late  the  next  evening.  The  party  sent  out 
from  Pawnee  rode  north  to  the  Mini  Ska  until  they  struck  the  cavalry 
trail  near  Painted  Lodge,  then  followed  the  battalion  on  to  camp. 
Schultz  and  Schramm  had  neither  been  seen  nor  heard  of  by  the 
battalion  since  they  were  sent  back  from  Bear  Fork. 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  187 


VIII. 

It  was  on  a  Wednesday  morning  that  Old  Tintop  marched  away 
from  Ransom.  It  was  on  Friday  morning  at  dawn  that  the  robbery 
occurred  at  Minden,  Friday  at  guard-mounting  that  Schultz  and 
Schramm  reached  the  post,  Friday  noon  that  the  news  of  the  robbery 
came  to  Major  Rhett,  by  which  time  the  two  couriers  were  again  up 
and  away,  going,  as  we  have  seen,  to  have  a  quiet  dinner  by  them 
selves  in  town  before  starting  to  return  to  their  detachment.  Fanning, 
proprietor  of  the  Empire  stables,  said  they  had  unsaddled  in  his  corral 
about  half-past  twelve,  had  told  him  to  feed  at  four,  as  they  purposed 
starting  in  the  cool  of  the  evening;  but  they  came  back  hurriedly  just 
before  three,  saddled  up,  paid  their  reckoning,  and  left.  He  knew 
Schultz  well ;  the  other  was  a  stranger,  twenty  years  younger.  Con- 
way,  keeper  of  the  thriving  restaurant,  said  the  sergeant  and  his  friend 
came  in  about  one.  He  knew  Schultz  well  also,  and  Schultz  ordered 
a  good  dinner  to  be  served,  with  a  bottle  of  Rhine  wine,  as  soon  as 
convenient.  They  were  shown  to  the  curtained  alcove  at  the  rear  end 
of  the  house,  farthest  from  the  bar,  and  were  waited  upon  by  the 
Mongolian  combination  cook  and  waiter.  Meantime,  everybody  coming 
into  the  bar  was  talking  of  the  robbery,  and  finally  about  half-past  two 
Conway  went  himself  to  the  box  occupied  by  the  Germans,  and  told 
them  the  news.  They  got  up  at  once,  left  their  wine  and  coffee 
unfinished,  and  hastened  out  to  get  further  particulars.  A  few  minutes 
after  three  they  were  seen  riding  briskly  away  on  the  Minden  road, 
north  of  the  river.  It  was  Saturday  morning  when  the  sheriff's 
officers  were  sent  in  pursuit,  one  party  going  by  rail  to  Pawnee,  as  has 
been  said,  then  taking  horses  and  riding  over  to  the  lower  valley  of 
the  Ska ;  the  other  followed  the  trail.  On  Sunday  evening  members 
of  both  parties  met  near  Painted  Lodge,  one  coming  back  from  the 
command  to  report  that  Schultz  and  Schramm  were  not  there  and 
hadn't  been  there,  the  other  riding  eastward  hard  as  they  could  to 
catch  the  malefactors  whom  they  believed  still  ahead  of  them.  Between 
the  two  the  Germans  had  slipped  out  somewhere  and  gone  none  could 
say  whither. 

When  Monday  evening  came  there  was  news  indeed.  Tintop,  by 
a  forced  march,  had  jumped  between  the  Sioux  raiding-parties  and  the 
agency,  whither  the  renegades  were  now  returning,  and  there  had  been 


188  SERGEANT  CECESUS. 

a  battle  to  the  death.  The  fight  had  come  off  somewhere  among  the 
breaks  on  the  north  side  of  the  Ska  Sunday  afternoon,  ninety  miles 
from  the  agency  and  a  hundred  from  the  nearest  railway-station.  The 
news  came  from  Indian  sources  entirely,  but  neither  agent,  interpreter, 
mission  priests,  nor  soldier  guards  could  tell  by  what  means  they  got 
the  tidings,  and  no  Indian  or  half-bred  would  tell.  That  they  believed 
it  authentic  was  evident  from  the  wails  and  lamentations  of  certain 
bereaved  squaws.  All  the  agent  could  telegraph  was  that  a  collision 
had  occurred  and  the  losses  were  heavy  on  both  sides.  Tuesday  morn 
ing  dawned  with  no  further  particulars  worthy  of  credence.  But 
when  No.  3  came  in  for  breakfast  at  Butte,  Colonel  Rand,  inspector- 
general  of  the  department,  stepped  briskly  off  and  inquired  for 
despatches  at  the  office  of  the  hotel.  Receiving  several,  he  was  shown 
at  once  to  Major  Graves's  room. 

With  the  paymaster  at  the  moment  were  the  sheriff  and  a  brace  of 
reporters.  Mr.  Lacy  was  away  on  some  mysterious  errand  which  was 
to  result,  so  it  was  said,  in  the  recovery  of  a  large  portion  of  the  stolen 
funds.  He  had  been  gone  since  Sunday  night.  Rand  thoughtfully 
read  his  telegrams  as  he  mounted  the  stairs.  The  bell-boy's  rap  was 
answered  by  the  sheriff,  who  was  seated  nearest  the  door,  a  proceeding 
at  which  Graves  reddened  ;  it  smacked  of  proprietorship,  an  indefinable 
air  of  authority  and  possession  on  the  part  of  the  sheriff  having  become 
more  and  more  noticeable  to  the  paymaster  ever  since  their  visit  to 
Ransom.  It  galled  him,  yet  was  manifested  in  so  intangible  a  way  he 
knew  not  how  to  resent  it.  The  fact  of  the  matter  was,  Graves  didn't 
know  how  to  do  anything  when  Lacy  was  away.  He  had  been  in 
service  only  a  year,  despite  his  gray  beard,  and  was  the  nominee  of  a 
man  to  whom  neither  Executive  nor  Senate  could  afford  to  say  nay. 
He  simply  leaned  upon  Lacy,  who  for  his  part  was  unquestionably  one 
of  the  ablest  and  most  accomplished  assistants  a  government  official 
could  expect  to  have. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?"  said  the  sheriff,  gruffly.  "  Nobody  rang." 
"  Don't  want  nawthin',"  was  the  answer,  as  the  boy's  eyes  wandered 
past  the  bulky  form  which  was  too  familiar  to  be  of  interest,  and 
sought  out  the  party  who  had  been  "  held  up."  "  There's  a  feller  here 
askin'  for  Graves,"  he  proceeded, — the  use  of  a  handle  to  a  man's 
name  being  regarded  in  many  far  Western  communities  at  that  day  as 
a  virtual  admission  of  personal  inferiority.  The  paymaster  heard  his 
name  and  hastened  to  the  door.  Rand,  swinging  coolly  along  the 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  189 

corridor,  reading  his  despatches,  glanced  up,  gave  no  sign  of  recogni 
tion  of  the  sheriff,  but  held  out  his  hand  to  Graves,  whose  face  lighted 
with  relief  and  hope  at  sight  of  the  staff-officer. 

"  Come  right  in,  colonel,"  he  exclaimed.  "  I'm  mighty  glad  to  see 
you.  I've  been  hoping  you'd  come.  My  God  !  did  you  ever  hear  of 
a  more  perfect  plant  ?  Come  in  ;  I  want  to  talk  with  you." 

"  Had  your  breakfast  ?"  asked  Rand,  briefly,  and  barely  glancing 
at  the  other  occupants. 

"  Not  yet.  I — haven't  much  appetite  to  speak  of,  and  these  gen 
tlemen  came  up  to  see  me  the  first  thing.  Let  me  present " 

"  Well,  come  and  take  breakfast  with  me,  then.  I'm  hungry  as  a 
wolf,  and  I  can't  talk  until  later,"  interposed  Rand. 

"  All  right,  colonel ;  I'll  go  with  you  in  a  minute.  As  I  was  say 
ing,  the  sheriff  and  these  gentlemen "  again  indicating  his  friends. 

"  Don't  let  me  intrude  now,  Graves.  I'll  order  for  two.  Finish 
your  business  with  your  friends,  and  then  join  me  as  soon  as  you  can." 
And,  before  the  paymaster  could  present  the  sheriff  or  introduce  any 
body  else,  Rand  whirled  about  and  went  striding  slowly  down  the 
corridor,  engrossed  apparently  in  another  despatch. 

"  Give  me  my  old  room,  if  you  can,"  said  he  at  the  office,  "  and 
order  breakfast  for  two  at  once.  Give  us  a  little  table  by  ourselves: 
I'll  be  back  here  in  ten  minutes." 

The  colonel  was  not  in  sight  when  Graves,  still  accompanied  by 
the  sheriff  and  the  correspondents,  came  down  to  the  office.  Nor  did 
he  reappear  in  the  hall.  Graves,  nervous,  anxious,  and  fretful,  kept 
glancing  at  the  main  entrance,  and  finally  led  his  faithful  attendants  to 
the  porch  without.  Here  they  could  command  a  view  of  the  street 
both  ways.  In  fifteen  minutes  a  waiter  came  out  to  say  that  Major 
Graves's  breakfast  was  getting  cold,  and  the  other  gentleman  was  half 
through  his'n ;  wanted  to  know  if  the  major's  friends  wouldn't  excuse 
him  long  enough  to  let  him  come  in  and  get  a  bite.  The  correspondents 
saw  through  the  scheme  and  took  it  all  laughingly.  The  sheriff  said 
he'd  go  with  him.  Rand  looked  neither  surprised  nor  annoyed  when 
the  big  fellow  came  bulging  in.  He  bowed  civilly,  but  continued  his 
engrossing  work  of  tearing  a  territorial  chicken  to  shreds,  simply  saying 
they  must  excuse  his  apparent  haste,  he  had  had  no  supper  the  night 
before  and  a  long  day's  work  was  ahead  and  he  was  ravenous.  The 
sheriff  grimly  watched  the  well-known  officer  (every  town  and  settle 
ment  in  the  department  knew  the  general's  right-hand  adviser,  Rand), 


190  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

and  twice  essayed  to  open  talk  on  the  subject  of  the  robbery.  Rand 
listened  with  every  manifestation  of  polite  interest,  but  vouchsafed  not 
a  word  of  his  own.  Suddenly  pushing  back  his  chair  and  tossing  his 
napkin  thereon  as  he  rose,  he  said, — 

"  Now  excuse  me,  major ;  finish  your  breakfast,  and  I'll  write  a 
letter  or  two.  Join  me  in  the  office  as  soon  as  you're  ready." 

Of  course  Graves  was  ready  in  three  minutes,  and  the  sheriff  also. 
Rand  looked  up,  nodded  cheerily,  and  went  on  with  his  letters.  These 
he  presently  read  over,  folded,  addressed,  and  stamped,  with  easy  de 
liberation,  and  by  this  time  the  correspondents  rejoined  the  major. 
Rand  glanced  at  his  watch,  picked  up  his  letters  and  took  them  to  the 
desk.  Graves  and  party  followed.  Then  out  came  Rand's  big  cigar- 
case. 

"Smoke?"  he  said,  tendering  the  bunch  to  the  sheriff,  who  pulled 
one  forth  in  his  pudgy  fingers  while  Graves  was  presenting  Messrs. 
So-and-So,  of  such  and  such  papers,  to  both  of  whom  Rand  extended 
cordial  greeting  and  his  cigar-case,  then  took  Graves  by  the  arm,  nodded 
cheerily  a  good-day  to  the  party,  and  popped  the  paymaster  through  a 
side  door.  For  au  instant,  only,  they  were  too  surprised  to  act.  Then, 
with  a  "Well,  I'll  be  damned!"  the  sheriff  jumped  to  the  door. 
There  at  the  side  entrance  stood  Fanning's  best  bay  team  and  open 
buggy,  Graves  just  being  hoisted  in.  Rand  sprang  lightly  after  him, 
and,  without  a  vestige  of  triumph  on  his  face,  blithely  waved  his  hand 
to  the  party  at  the  door,  and  away  went  the  bays  and  the  buggy. 

"  Well,"  said  the  sheriff,  "  if  he  isn't  a  cool  one  may  I  be — double 
damned !" 

Not  until  afternoon  could  he,  or  any  one  else,  for  that  matter,  get 
at  either  Rand  or  Graves.  Making  a  long  circuit,  and  keeping  him  in 
constant  chat,  the  colonel  drove  the  unhappy  paymaster  out  over  the 
hard  prairie  roads,  and  towards  noon  reined  up  at  the  fort,  where  the 
team  was  turned  over  to  an  orderly,  and  the  two  staff-officers  were 
welcomed  by  Morgan  and  regaled  with  lunch.  Rand  swore  the  canned 
lobster  and  commissary  crackers  and  cheese,  washed  down  with  Bud- 
weiser,  the  most  delicious  things  he  ever  tasted,  and  was  full  of  sym 
pathy  with  Morgan  in  his  anxiety  about  Connie. 

"  Here's  what  you've  got  to  do,  old  fellow,"  said  he.  "  You  must 
let  that  brave  little  woman  come  and  pay  us  a  visit.  Send  Lot  and 
Billy,  too.  I've  got  a  great  big  house,  and  my  wife  will  be  only  too 
glad  to  hear  child  voices  in  it  again.  I  like  Connie.  She's  a  brick. 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  191 

I'll  send  passes  for  the  whole  party,  and  the  change  will  do  her  good. 
Now,  speaking  about  Schramm  :  had  he  never  told  her  about  his 
antecedents  ?" 

No,  Morgan  knew  he  hadn't.  So  later  Rand  went  down  to  see 
Mrs.  Hinkel,  and  thus  it  happened  that  he  was  still  at  the  fort  when 
along  about  three  P.M.  the  wires  began  to  warm  up  with  other  and 
graver  matter.  Rand  was  wanted  at  the  instrument  if  by  chance  he 
was  still  at  the  fort,  for  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  be  placed  in 
immediate  communication  with  the  general,  who  was  at  department 
head-quarters,  and  presently  the  soldier  operator's  cheek  began  to  pale, 
as  he  checked  off  and  jotted  down,  name  after  name,  the  list  of  the 
killed  and  wounded  in  Tintop's  daring  fight  against  the  combined  war- 
parties  of  the  reservations.  The  gallant  old  dragoon  himself  was  safe, 
but  Morgan's  captaincy  had  come.  The  flag  went  down  to  half-staff 
unrebuked  by  the  lonely  officer  in  command,  for  brave  Manning,  his 
long-time  troop-leader  and  friend,  had  fallen  fighting  hard.  The  list 
of  the  dead,  though  large,  was  exceeded  by  that  of  the  wounded,  and 
supplemented  by  that  of  a  party  of  whose  fate  no  man  could  hazard 
more  than  mere  conjecture.  In  addition  to  the  names  of  Schultz  and 
Schramm  were  those  of  ten  other  troopers  reported  among  the  missing. 
It  was  the  roster  of  a  little  detachment  sent  out  on  the  trail  of  alleged 
road-agents  or  robbers.  They  had  started  only  a  few  hours  before  the 
fight,  and  were  under  the  leadership  of  Lieutenant  Thornton. 


IX. 

A  special  engine  and  car  took  Rand,  the  doctor,  and  certain  hospital 
attendants  eastward  to  Pawnee  that  evening,  but  meantime,  on  his  re 
turn  to  town,  the  colonel  had  gracefully  surrendered  to  the  press.  He 
had  so  much  to  tell  about  the  action  of  Winthrop's  command  that  it 
left  little  room  for  his  views  or  theories  as  to  the  robbery.  He  won 
the  hearts  of  the  correspondents  by  offering  to  take  them  along  with 
him  and  tell  them  all  he  could  on  the  way,  and  thus  get  time  to  look 
into  certain  other  matters  with  which  he  was  charged.  He  asked  the 
sheriff  for  a  description  of  the  bills  found  in  Schramm's  box,  and  the 
sheriff  allowed  him  to  see  the  packet  and  make  memoranda  for  him 
self.  He  asked  to  see  Mr.  Lacy.  In  fact,  he  asked  twice  to  see  Mr. 
Lacy ;  but,  though  that  gentleman  had  returned  to  the  hotel  at  noon, 


192  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

he  could  not  be  found.  He  had  gone  out  again  after  hearing  that  the 
major  was  driving  somewhere  with  Colonel  Rand.  Up  to  the  minute 
the  special  was  reported  ready,  Mr.  Lacy  did  not  reappear,  and  when 
it  was  time  to  start  Rand  told  the  telegraph  operator  to  send  the 
following : 

"BuTTE,  Tuesday,  5.30  P.M. 

"  GENERAL  C ,  on  No.  3  : 

"Just  starting  for  Pawnee.  No  news  here  of  Thornton's  party. 
Rhett's  battalion  escorting  wounded.  Shall  push  forward  to  Mini  Ska 
to-night.  Ordered  Graves  to  return  with  clerk  to  head-quarters  by 
next  train.  Funds  in  safe  by  express.  Shall  stop  to  question  Minden." 

The  run  to  Minden  along  the  level  valley  was  made  in  thirty 
minutes,  and  the  agent  was  on  the  platform,  a  green  flag  hanging  from 
the  signal-arm  overhead.  The  engineer,  therefore,  had  orders  to  stop 
anyhow.  A  little  knot  of  loungers  had  gathered,  and  with  genuine 
frontier  curiosity  swarmed  about  the  colonel  as  he  took  and  opened  the 
telegrams  awaiting  him.  He  read  as  he  moved  to  the  door  of  the 
station,  and  some  of  the  party  prepared  to  do  likewise.  Once  inside 
the  office,  however,  Rand  shut  and  snapped  the  door  behind  him  and 
turned  on  the  agent : 

"  You  were  ordered,  I  believe,  to  send  a  written  description  of  the 
two  men  who  came  to  you  with  a  despatch  for  Paymaster  Graves 
and  lured  him  on  here  Friday  morning  last.  Have  you  done  it  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir.  Sent  it  up  to  Mr.  Burke  at  Butte  to-day, — the  division 
superintendent.  I  couldn't  describe  much.  You  see,  it  was  still 
darkish,  although — at  least  it  was  kind  of  dark  in  here,  though  it  was 
after  dawn  outside.  They  wore  their  slouch-hats  down  low,  and  their 
collars  up.  I  didn't  suspect  anything.  They  were  both  bearded,  and 
in  the  prime  of  life,  I  should  say, — about  thirty,  perhaps.  Looked  as 
much  like  soldiers  as  any  I've  ever  seen,  out  here,  leastwise." 

"  Do  you  think  you'd  know  'em  again  ?" 

"Well,  no,  sir;  to  be  frank,  I  don't.  I  didn't  notice  them  par 
ticularly.  They  were  so  quiet,  had  so  little  to  say.  Only  one  of  them 
spoke  to  me  at  all, — gave  his  message  right  out  soldier-fashion,  and 
said  he  was  instructed  to  notify  the  lieutenant  of  the  time  it  was 
wired.  I  sent  it  right  off  quick  as  I  could  get  Pawnee,  and  then  they 
went  out  again,  leaving  me  at  the  desk.  When  they  came  back,  just 
as  the  train  hove  in  sight,  although  it  was  broad  daylight  I  was  paying 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  193 

attention  to  the  train  and  not  to  them, — hardly  heard  a  word,  or  more 
than  even  glanced  at  them,  when  No.  3  came  in.  I  saw  a  little  clump 
of  men  over  by  the  stream  watering  their  horses,  and  all  had  on  army 
overcoats.  These  two  fellows  who  met  the  paymaster  were  the  ones 
that  first  came  in  ;  I'm  certain  as  to  that." 

"  Are  you  ?     Well,  why  ?     What  was  there  to  make  you  certain  ?" 

"  Because  the  fellow  that  did  the  talking  used  good  English, — better 
than  most  soldiers, — and  he  ordered  the  other  fellow  around.  The 
other  called  him  'sergeant/  the  time  he  spoke." 

"  Good  English,  eh  ?  Out-and-out  Yankee,  do  you  mean  ?  or 
plains  English,  or  Boston  English  ?  At  all  events,  it  sounded  like  a 
Yankee  talking,  not  a  foreigner,  didn't  it, — a  German,  for  instance  ?" 
said  Kand,  eying  him  keenly. 

"  Well,  now  you  speak  of  it,  colonel,  the  fellow  called  sergeant  had 
just  a  little  accent, — German-like.  But  I  mean  he  didn't  use  slang 
nor  cuss  words.  He  talked  what  we  call  book  English." 

"  And  you  thought  him  only  thirty  ?" 

u  Certainly  not  more  than  that.  He  looked  so  light  and  spry. 
But  he  had  a  pretty  heavy  beard.  It  covered  all  his  face." 

"  No  sprinkle  of  gray  in  it  ?" 

'•  Well,  sir,  not  that  I  noticed  in  that  light." 

"  Where  did  they  leave  their  horses,  and  what  were  the  horses  like, 
— bays  ?  sorrels  ?  chestnuts  ?" 

"  I  didn't  see  their  mounts  at  all,  sir,  except  in  a  clump  at  a  dis 
tance.  They  seemed  mixed  colors  then." 

"Exactly.  Not  all  one  color,  as  they  would  be  if  they  belonged  to 
one  troop  of  cavalry, — bays,  or  sorrels,  or  grays  ?" 

"  Well,  they  were  a  good  way  off,  colonel,  and  I  can't  be  certain. 
Mr.  Long,  here,  saw  two  men  riding  up  along  the  north  bank  not 
more  than  twenty  minutes  after  No.  3  pulled  out." 

"Yes.     What  colored  horses  were  those  two  riding,  Mr.  Long?" 

"  Roans,  sir.  I  could  see  plainly  in  the  slanting  sunshine.  Clean 
limbed  little  fellows,  too.  They  were  no  plugs  or  bronchos.  They 
were  genuine  cavalry  horses." 

Rand  compressed  his  bearded  lips,  as  he  turned  away,  signalling  to 
the  conductor,  "  Go  ahead." 

That  evening  a  little  party  pushed  away  northward  from  the 
quartermaster's  field  depot,  established  close  to  the  railway-station  at 
Pawnee.  A  long  ride  was  ahead  of  them,  as  the  doctor  was  sorely 
I  17 


194  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

needed.  About  the  same  hour,  over  in  the  Mini  Ska  valley,  Rhett 
had  pitched  his  few  tents  and  posted  his  sentries  and  outlying  pickets  to 
guard  the  wounded  and  the  helpless  against  possibility  of  Indian  attack. 
True,  Indians  of  the  plains  rarely  attack  at  night,  and  are  scary  and 
superstitious  as  so  many  negroes.  True,  the  hostiles  were  all  back 
under  the  wing  of  the  agency  by  this  time,  probably.  But  Rhett  had 
never  before  been  on  Indian  service,  and,  whether  he  had  or  not, 
determined  to  neglect  no  precaution.  He  had  met  the  convoy  return 
ing  from  the  scene  of  the  fight,  had  relieved  the  cavalry  guard,  sending 
it  back  to  overtake  the  battalion, — now  fourscore  miles  away  en  route  to 
a  still  more  threatened  point, — and,  under  the  orders  flashed  after  him 
by  wire  and  swift  courier,  Rhett  was  coming  back  to  Pawnee,  bringing 
the  sufferers  with  him.  The  killed  had  been  buried,  temporarily  at 
least,  at  the  scene  of  the  savage  fight.  There  were  thirty  wounded  in 
his  care,  borne  mostly  on  travois  and  drawn  by  captured  Indian  ponies. 
When  he  halted  at  the  end  of  his  day's  march  Painted  Lodge  Butte 
bore  southwest  by  west  perhaps  fifteen  miles  away,  and  the  stage- 
station  at  the  bridge  over  the  Mini  Ska  lay  probably  five  miles  from 
their  up-stream  picket.  A  group  of  officers,  chatting  in  low  tones 
around  the  camp-fire  among  the  cottonwoods,  dispersed  about  ten  P.M., 
and  all  but  the  commander  of  the  guard  rolled  into  their  blankets,  one 
or  two  of  the  number  enjoying  a  good-night  whiff  at  their  brier-roots 
as  they  stretched  themselves  on  the  sod.  Beyond  the  heavy  breathing 
of  some  sleeper  and  occasionally  a  feverish  moan  among  the  wounded, 
who,  with  their  attendants,  were  sheltered  in  a  little  hollow  out  of 
reach  of  possible  shot,  the  camp  was  very  quiet.  The  few  horses,  the 
mules  and  Indian  ponies  were  securely  hoppled  and  guarded  where 
they  could  graze  at  will  on  a  bench  just  to  the  north  of  camp,  and 
when  the  moon  came  riding  up  the  eastern  sky  and  faintly  picturing 
the  bluff7- bordered  valley,  the  scene  was  one  of  calm  and  placid  repose. 
Fenton,  the  officer  of  the  day,  could  not  help  remarking  upon  it,  as  he 
went  trudging  out  over  the  grassy  slope  for  a  midnight  visit  to  his 
pickets.  They  had  been  talking  of  the  strange  and  successful  scheme 
by  which  the  outlaws  had  lured  the  paymaster  on  to  Minden  and  there 
robbed  him,  for  the  theory  of  the  civil  authorities  that  cavalrymen 
alone  were  the  perpetrators  had  received  something  of  a  set-back  when 
these  gentlemen  from  Ransom  met  the  wounded  and  the  guards  from 
Tintop's  command  and  learned  that  the  only  absentees  at  the  time 
of  the  robbery  were  Schultz  and  Schramm,  who  could  hardly  have 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  195 

f 

effected  it  by  themselves;  and  what  opportunity  had  they  had  of 
learning  the  paymaster's  movements?  True,  the  sheriff's  people, 
unable  to  find  out  what  had  become  of  the  two,  forbidden  to  invade 
the  confines  of  another  Territory,  which  they  would  do  if  they  followed 
the  cavalry,  afraid  to  linger  in  the  valley  after  the  cavalry  had  gone, 
and  utterly  averse  to  searching  among  the  Sioux  trails  for  their  prey, 
had  returned  to  the  railway.  Among  the  wounded  was  Lieutenant 
Edwards,  the  paymaster's  friend,  and  no  one  was  more  interested  about 
this  affair  in  which  his  name  had  been  so  recklessly  and  effectively 
misused  than  Edwards  himself.  The  young  doctor  with  the  wounded 
told  him  he  mustn't  talk  so  much,  but  Edwards  was  bound  to  find  out 
all  he  could,  and  so  it  happened  that  this  very  night,  catching  sight  of 
the  officer  of  the  day  as  he  started  out  on  his  rounds,  Edwards  feebly 
hailed  him,  on  the  shallow  pretence  that  he  had  something  to  tell. 

"Say,  cap.,  I  wanted  to  ask  you  if  you  knew  we  were  just  about 
opposite  the  gap  that  Thornton  and  his  fellows  took  to  pursue  those 
road-agents  ?" 

"Certainly.  They  went  right  up  over  yonder,"  said  Fenton, 
pointing  to  where,  dim  and  shadowy,  a  ravine  seemed  to  pierce,  wedge- 
like,  the  barrier  of  the  northward  range.  "  But  what  do  you  mean  by 
lying  awake  and  asking  conundrums  when  you  ought  to  be  asleep  ?" 

"  Because  I'm  a  damned  sight  more  interested  in  old  Graves's  pre 
dicament  than  I  am  in  our  own,  though  I  may  yet  have  to  convince 
a  vigilant  treasury  that  some  other  fellow,  not  I,  sent  that  despatch. 
We  were  only  some  twenty  miles  east  of  here  when  that  courier  caught 
us  with  the  news  of  the  thing  and  the  statement  that  the  gang  had 
scattered,  some  coming  our  way.  The  courier  himself  saw  two  of  them, 
he  said,  as  he  came  across  the  bridge,  far  up  across  the  prairie,  riding 
for  Wagon  Gap  for  all  they  were  worth.  Then  he  sneaked  over  and 
struck  the  trail  and  said  that  not  two  but  six,  at  least,  had  gone  to  the 
Gap.  That's  how  Thornton  came  to  be  sent  back  with  orders  to  pursue 
and  punish,  capture,  recover,  and  all  manner  of  things  that  Tintop 
knew  perfectly  well  he  couldn't  do,  yet  had  to  order  him  in  compliance 
with  his  own  instructions.  He  must  have  ridden  right  across  the  line 
of  flight  of  the  Sioux  we  whipped  on  Sunday,  and,  if  so,  God  help 
him  and  his !  There's  nothing  left  of  'em  but  wolf-bait  now." 

"  Oh,  you're  a  little  used  up,  Edwards.  They'll  squeeze  through 
all  right,  I  think.  Quit  your  talking,  and  go  to  sleep." 

"  I  can't  sleep.     'Tten't  that  this  hole  hurts  me  so,  or  that  I'm  so 


196  SERGEANT  CROSS  US. 

f. 

thirsty,  but  I  can't  get  that  confounded  business  out  of  my  head,  and 
I'm  worried  about  Thornton." 

"Well,  shut  up,"  said  the  captain.  "Listen."  And  he  stood 
holding  out  a  warning  hand. 

"What  do  you  hear?"  asked  Edwards,  presently. 

"  I  can't  hear  anything,  thanks  to  your  clatter.  I  thought  I  heard 
a  challenge  'way  up-stream  where  our  picket  is.  Do  be  quiet  now." 

Both  men  listened  with  strained  ears.  Over  at  the  edge  of  the 
bench  to  the  northeast  where  the  drowsy  animals  were  scattered,  a 
slowly-pacing  sentry  had  halted,  turned  about,  and,  with  the  moon 
beams  glinting  on  his  rifle,  he  too  was  listening,  as  though  his  attention 
had  been  attracted  by  some  sound  on  the  up-stream  side  of  the  camp. 

"  What  was  it,  Lucas?"  asked  the  officer  of  the  day,  coming  up 
out  of  the  hollow  where  the  wounded  were  lying. 

"  I  don't  know,  sir.  The  noise  off  yonder  awhile  ago  was  coyotes, 
but  this  cry  came  from  up  the  bank." 

"  So  I  thought.  It  sounded  like  a  challenging  sentry.  Who  are 
out  there  ?" 

"Corporal  Rafferty,  sir,  and  two  of  B  Company.  I  couldn't  see 
anything,  yet  about  ten  minutes  ago  six  or  eight  of  them  mules  were 
pricking  up  their  ears  and  looking  out  across  that  stretch  of  prairie 
yonder  like  as  though  they'd  seen  or  smelt  something." 

The  captain  waited  no  longer.  Turning  away  from  the  sentry, 
he  walked  rapidly  out  upon  the  bench  which  overlooked  the  river- 
bottom.  Up  here  the  moon  illumined  his  way,  while  underneath  the 
low  crest  there  were  fallen  cottonwoods  and  more  or  less  jungle  and 
tangle  to  trip  over.  A  camp  sentry,  well  hidden  under  the  bank, 
waited  until  his  senior  was  close  at  hand,  then  challenged  in  muffled 
tone. 

"Have  you  heard  anything  unusual  off  yonder?"  asked  the  officer 
of  the  day  as  soon  as  he  had  been  formally  advanced  and  recognized. 

"There's  voices  out  there,  sir,  and  horses.  Rafferty's  party  has 
got  'em,  whoever  it  is." 

Presently  two  horsemen,  piloted  by  a  soldier  afoot,  came  slowly 
through  the  timber  towards  them. 

"  Dc-n't  challenge,"  said  Captain  Fenton.  "  I'll  hail. — What  have 
you  there,  corporal  ?"  he  sharply  asked,  when  the  party  had  come 
within  a  dozen  yards. 

"  That  you,  cap.  ?"  queried  a  voice  with  the  Western  twang  in  it. 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  197 

"  Good  Lord,  but  I'm  glad  to  git  yere !  We've  ridden  seventy-five 
likely  miles  since  morning,  and  ain't  had  a  drink  for  twenty-four 
hours.  Say,  any  of  our  other  fellows  yere?  We're  the  posse  sent 
out  from  Butte." 

"  Oh  !  I  thought  you'd  given  up  and  gone  home,"  said  Fenton, 
shortly,  disappointed  somehow  that  it  was  not  a  courier. 

"  Well,  we  did  start,  till  we  got  word  of  Lieutenant  Thornton's 
striking  the  trail,  then  we  turned  round  and  followed  him.  Luckily, 
the  Sioux  headed  us  off." 

"Why  luckily?" 

u  Good  Lord  !  ain't  you  heard  ?  The  lieutenant  and  his  men  were 
corralled  up  at  Slaughter  Cove.  I  don't  reckon  there's  hide  nor  hair 
of  any  of  'em  left  by  this  time,  'cept  what  the  Indians  have  got  on 
their  scalp-belts." 

"  Slaughter  Cove,  man  !  why,  that's  not  more  than  thirty  miles 
north  of  us, — through  the  Gap." 

"  That's  all  true,  perhaps,  but  we  had  to  ride  around  a  whole 
county  to  work  our  way  out.  The  Sioux  have  got  the  swag  by  this 
time,  robbers,  troopers,  and  all." 


X. 

A  proud  boy  was  Perry  Thornton  the  night  the  details  of  the 
robbery  reached  them.  Finding  no  paymaster  at  Willow  Springs  on 
Friday  noon,  and  alarmed  by  reports  of  Indian  outrages  down  the 
Mini  Ska,  Tintop,  as  has  been  seen,  decided  to  push  on  for  Painted 
Lodge  as  soon  as  men  and  horses  had  enjoyed  an  hour  of  nooning ; 
and  so  by  sunset  of  the  long  June  day  the  cavalry  had  put  some  forty- 
three  miles  to  their  credit  and  gone  into  camp  once  more,  close  to  the 
stream,  and  not  more  than  ten  miles  from  the  bridge  over  which  was 
carried  the  broad  and  once  well-beaten  trail  from  Pawnee  to  the 
agency.  Thornton,  eager  to  win  his  spurs,  and  being  a  prime  favorite 
with  Tintop,  as  indeed  he  was  with  everybody,  had  been  accorded  the 
bliss  of  a  side-scout,  and  was  sent  over  to  the  stage-station  at  the 
bridge  to  gather  news.  There  was  no  difficulty  in  loading  up  with 
rumors.  The  air  was  full  of  them.  Perry  found  at  the  station  half 
a  dozen  cowboys,  ranchmen,  and  the  like,  most  of  whom  had  escaped 

17* 


198  SERGEANT  CECESUS. 

by  the  skin  of  their  teeth  and  the  performance  of  prodigies  of  per 
sonal  valor.  The  old  telegraph-line  from  Pawnee  to  the  station  was 
intact,  but  north  through  Wagon  Gap  and  so  on  to  the  agency  there 
had  been  no  communication  for  a  week,  and  no  one  was  venturesome 
enough  to  go  out  and  discover  why.  Around  by  way  of  Bismarck 
and  Yankton  it  was  easy,  though  slow  work,  to  communicate  with  the 
agency  people,  and  the  situation  warranted  the  belief  that  the  Sioux 
had  slashed  the  wires  running  southward  from  their  reservation,  and 
therefore  towards  the  railway  and  the  coming  soldiers,  but  had  left  the 
northeastward  passage  open,  under  the  natural  impression  that  no 
tidings  could  ever  get  to  the  enemy  by  a  road  that  ran  the  opposite 
way.  Perry  was  urged  by  his  informants  to  get  back  to  camp  and 
bring  up  the  cavalry,  and  had  not  gone  a  mile  before  the  accident 
happened  which  led  to  the  shooting  of  the  horse  he  was  riding.  The 
telegraph  company,  thinking  to  be  enterprising,  had  sent  a  young  man 
out  with  an  instrument  only  the  day  before,  and  reopened  the  old  office 
at  Ska  Bridge  station,  and  when  a  cowboy  came  running  in  to  say  the 
lieutenant  and  his  party  had  been  jumped  on  the  way  back  to  Painted 
Lodge  the  despatch  was  sent  at  once  which  so  alarmed  the  good  folk 
at  Ransom  and  which  Rhett  found  means  to  modify  on  the  following 
day;  by  which  time,  however,  the  truth  was  learned  at  Ska  Bridge, 
as  the  cavalry  battalion,  "  going  for  all  it  was  worth,"  passed  on  down 
stream  in  a  cloud  of  alkali-dust.  Perry  was  ready  for  another  ride 
even  after  a  long  day's  march  when,  late  Saturday  night,  as  they  slept 
far  down  the  Ska,  a  courier  rode  in  from  the  stage-station  behind  with 
full  particulars  of  the  robbery  and  the  news  that  some  of  the  gang 
were  unquestionably  striving  to  escape  towards  the  Indian  agency  to 
the  north,  and  had  been  seen  spurring  through  Wagon  Gap.  The 
telegraph  operator  at  the  station  had  told  Old  Tintop  all  that  lie  knew 
of  the  affair  during  the  brief  moment  that  the  colonel  halted,  but  now 
despatches  and  authentic  news  came  after  them. 

"  We've  got  to  send  an  officer  and  ten  men  on  the  trail  of  those 
beggars,"  said  Tintop,  sitting  up  in  his  blankets  and  reading  by  the 
light  of  Gray's  lantern.  "  Whose  turn  is  it?" 

"  Mine,  colonel,"  sang  out  a  cheery  voice  from  a  roll  of  bedding 
under  an  opposite  cotton  wood,  and  in  a  moment  Thornton,  fresh  as  a 
daisy,  was  pulling  on  his  boots  and  girding  himself  for  the  ride. 

"You've  just  got  back,  you  young  cub,  and  the  horse  you  killed 
was  worth  the  news  you  brought  ten  times  over,"  growled  the  colonel. 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  199 

"  Well,  that's  why  I  want  to  have  another  go,  sir,"  was  the  prompt, 
laughing  answer.  And  Tintop  would  not  say  him  nay. 

It  was  this  way  that  Thornton  came  to  miss  the  stirring  fight  of 
the  battalion  on  the  Sunday  noontide,  and  to  stumble  into  a  siege  of 
his  own  beside  which,  in  point  of  peril  and  pluck  and  long-continued 
strain,  the  fierce,  brief  hour  of  battle  of  his  comrades  was  but  a 
bagatelle. 

At  one  A.M.  on  Sunday  he  and  his  little  squad  rode  away  on  the 
westward  trail,  guided  by  the  couriers  who  brought  the  news.  Two 
miles  back  from  camp  they  left  the  river  and  edged  away  to  their  right 
over  the  moonlit  valley  towards  a  rift  in  the  boundary  hills  just  faintly 
visible  in  the  dim  and  ghostly  light.  An  hour  after  dawn  they  halted 
in  a  deep  ravine  to  water  their  horses,  and  then  went  loping  on  again, 
Thornton  eager  and  exultant,  proud  of  his  trust  and  determined  to 
overhaul  the  robbers  if  riding  could  do  it.  By  noon  Sunday  they  had 
pushed  northward  out  of  the  Gap  with  the  fresh  trail  leading  on ;  by 
one  had  halted  to  feed,  water,  and  unsaddle  awhile  in  the  midst  of  the 
wild  scenery  at  the  head  of  Fossil  Creek,  the  ten-mile  pass  out  of  sight 
behind  and  the  rocky  walls  of  Slaughter  Cove  no  great  distance  ahead. 
It  was  here  that  Sergeant  Jeffers,  instead  of  lying  down  and  resting, 
as  did  the  others,  was  seen  bending  double  and  examining  the  tracks  of 
their  predecessors  all  along  the  bank  and  among  the  trees.  Wherever 
a  horse  had  stepped  in  the  mud  and  the  hoof-print  remained  unbroken 
he  bent  closer  and  studied  it  with  mingled  interest  and  anxiety.  At 
last  Thornton,  watching  him  as  he  munched  his  bit  of  hard  bread  and 
chocolate,  took  his  tin  mug  to  the  brook  for  a  drink  and  turned  on  the 
non-commissioned  officer. 

"  What  are  you  studying  so  closely,  sergeant  ?" 

"  These  hoof-prints,  sir.  There  are  two  I've  seen  this  morning  that 
worried  me  at  first,  in  view  of  the  charge  made  that  the  robbers  were 
cavalrymen." 

"Why  so?" 

"  Just  this,  sir.  Two  of  these  horses  we're  after  wear  the  govern 
ment  cavalry  shoe.  Look  here,  and  here.  I  could  almost  swear  those 
shoes  were  fitted  and  every  nail  driven  and  clinched  by  D  Troop's 
farrier." 

"  And  do  you  mean  that  some  of  our  fellows  are  actually  mixed  up 
in  the  robbery,  after  all  ?  Why,  man  alive,  there's  no  one  out  but 
Schultz  and  Schramm." 


200  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

"  That's  just  exactly  what  I  don't  believe,  sir,  if  by  being  mixed 
up  in  the  matter  the  lieutenant  means  they  belong  to  the  gang.  No, 
sir;  for  the  last  hour  it  has  been  dawning  on  me  that  we  are  not  fol 
lowing  one  party,  but  two.  An  Indian  would  have  told  us  this  before 
now.  The  first  party  went  through  the  Gap  hours  ahead  of  the  second, 
and  we're  as  many  hours  behind.  The  first  party  probably  were  the 
road-agents ;  the  second,  chasing  as  hard  as  they  could,  were  Schultz 
and  Schramm." 

"  How  do  you  make  it  out?"  asked  Thornton,  his  bright  eyes  ablaze 
with  interest. 

"  Well,  everywhere  through  the  Gap,  lieutenant,  these  cavalry  hoof- 
prints  showed  atop  of  the  others.  In  every  case  where  there  was  soft 
ground  you  could  see  that  our  print  was  the  last  made.  The  first 
party  camped  here,  fed,  watered, ate,  and  smoked,  and  finally  went  on; 
our  fellows  merely  fed  and  watered  and  hastened  after  them.  You 
can  see  where  their  horses  were  tethered,  where  the  cooking  was  done, 
where  they  lay  and  smoked.  Some  of  them  had  cigars.  I  picked  up 
three  stumps.  Our  fellows  never  stopped  more  than  to  give  their 
horses  what  grain  they  had  left  in  their  nose-bags,  and  a  good  long 
drink.  It  was  Schultz  and  Schramm,  simply  because  they  alone  were 
away  from  the  command.  They  had  gained  on  the  gang  considerably, 
too,  through  the  halt  of  the  former  right  here,  and  I  believe  we'll  hear 
from  them  yet." 

Two  hours  later,  pushing  on  in  grim  determination  still  on  the 
trail,  with  the  opening  of  the  strange,  wild,  heavily-timbered  rift  in 
the  hills  named  but  the  previous  summer  Slaughter  Cove,  just  to  their 
left,  the  party  rode  suddenly  out  from  among  the  pines  to  where  a 
bare,  treeless  shoulder  of  the  mountains  towered  between  them  and  the 
east.  Northward  up  a  steep  ascent  among  scattered  timber  went  the 
trail,  and  Thornton  and  Jeffers  dismounted  to  lead  and  rest  their  pant 
ing  horses.  The  others  in  silence  followed  their  example.  Slowly 
they  clambered  up  the  winding  path,  each  moment  nearing  the  crest, 
and  at  last  within  half  a  dozen  yards  of  the  top  Jeffers  signalled  with 
his  bare  brown  hand,  tossed  his  reins  to  the  nearest  trooper,  and  then, 
bending  low  and  removing  his  scouting-hat,  went  crouching  towards  a 
little  cairn  of  stone,  an  old  Indian  guide-post  made  to  keep  their 
runners  from  losing  the  way  in  the  depths  of  a  Dakota  winter,  when 
all  the  face  of  nature  was  veiled  in  snow.  One  after  another  as  they 
closed  up  on  the  leaders  the  weary  men  halted,  and  some  at  once  threw 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  201 

themselves  upon  the  sod ;  all  allowed  their  horses  to  graze.  For  a 
moment  Jeffers  lay  flat,  peering  over  the  crest;  then  of  a  sudden  he 
seemed  to  catch  sight  of  something  that  set  him  all  of  a  quiver.  He 
shaded  his  eyes  with  his  hand  and  stared,  slowly  rising  to  his  feet,  the 
muscles  of  his  lips  and  jaws  twitching  with  suppressed  excitement. 
Thornton,  busily  engaged  at  the  moment  in  opening  the  case  of  his 
field-glass,  did  not  at  first  see  him.  Just  as  he  had  drawn  out  the 
binocular  and  wiped  the  object-glass  with  a  silken  handkerchief,  one  of 
the  troopers  muttered,  "  Look,  lieutenant,  he's  beckoning."  And  in  a 
moment,  with  beating  heart,  the  boy  had  crept  to  the  veteran's  side. 

It  was  a  wonderful  view  that  opened  before  his  eyes.  They  were 
halted  on  the  eastward  slope  of  a  bold,  rock-ribbed,  pine-covered  range 
that  seemed  to  stretch  away  northward  without  pass  or  break  for  many 
a  league  until  lost  in  a  maze  of  similar  black-crested  heights  that, 
perhaps  forty  miles  away,  veered  around  to  the  east  again,  curtaining 
the  intervening  slopes  and  foot-hills  and  valleys  until  it  was  merged  in 
the  general  haze  of  the  far  eastern  horizon.  All  the  rude,  rugged 
chiin  of  hills  bristled  with  its  growth  of  pine  and  cedar,  glistened  here 
and  there  with  its  outcropping  of  boulder  and  quartz,  or  glinted  when 
the  searching  sunshine  fell  on  the  duller  hues  of  gneiss  and  granite. 
All  the  rolling  foot-hills,  a  tumbling  sea  of  spotless  green,  shimmered 
in  the  unclouded  rays.  Far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  northeast,  east, 
southeastward  again,  a  glorious  stretch  of  upland  prairie,  of  wind 
swept,  woodless  turf,  once  the  roaming-ground  of  countless  thousands 
of  the  wild  cattle  of  the  Western  world,  the  now  annihilated  buffalo. 
Far  away  to  the  southeast,  dim  and  indistinct,  a  dark  winding  fringe 
told  where  the  Mini  Ska  rolled  smoothly  through  its  wide  and  open 
valley.  Far  away  to  the  northeast,  among  rounded  bluffs  and  palisaded 
buttes,  a  shining  blue  ribbon  turned  and  twisted,  dove  out  of  sight 
under  grass-grown  walls,  only  to  come  gleaming  into  view  again  still 
farther  on,  the  Wakpa  Wakon, — Spirit  River,— curling  through  the 
heart  of  the  reservation,  the  sacred  lands  of  the  Sioux.  There,  some 
where  to  the  north,  sheltered  from  the  fierce  wintry  gales  by  the  grand 
curtain  of  bearded  mountain  to  its  west  and  north,  hidden  from  sight 
by  its  surrounding  citadels  of  bluff,  lay  the  substantial  settlement  of 
the  agency,  a  long  day's  march  away.  There  in  every  deep  sequestered 
valley,  along  every  babbling  stream,  lay  the  lodges  of  the  pampered 
tribes, — old  men  and  children,  old  women  and  young,  living  indolently 
and  in  plenty  at  their  guarded  homes,  while  the  sons  and  brothers  and 
I* 


202  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

braves,  the  war-chiefs  and  the  turbulent  young  men,  swarmed  into  the 
forbidden  grazing-grounds  of  the  settlers,  far  beyond  the  treaty  line, 
and  in  rude  and  bloody  foray  found  their  sole  content.  The  trail  the 
cavalry  squad  had  followed  in  the  early  morning  along  the  windings 
of  a  feeble  tributary  of  the  Mini  Ska  had  left  the  broad  valley  thirty 
miles  away  to  the  south,  and,  bursting  through  a  dividing  ridge  by 
way  of  Wagon  Gap,  left  the  old  beaten  road  at  the  Springs  where  they 
made  their  noonday  halt,  plunged  into  the  timbered  ascent  close  to  the 
backbone  of  the  ridge,  while  the  road,  by  a  sweep  or  de"tour  to  the 
east,  climbed  gradually  to  the  level  of  the  upland  and  could  be  faintly 
seen  in  places  five  or  six  miles  away  like  a  dun-colored  ribbon  garter 
ing  the  green  carpet  of  the  prairie.  To  their  left  and  rear  a  frowning 
gorge  in  the  heart  of  the  range  opened  the  narrow  way  that  led  to  the 
basin  or  cove  among  the  pine-covered  hills, — the  Slaughter  Cove  the 
guide  had  pointed  out  at  noon.  To  their  right,  therefore,  all  was  bold, 
open,  undulating,  smiling  in  unclouded  sunshine;  to  their  left — the 
west — all  was  dark,  frowning,  and  forbidding;  and  yet  the  one  was 
the  path  of  death  and  danger,  the  other  the  only  line  of  escape. 

"  By  Jove,  what  a  magnificent  view !"  is  Thornton's  exclamation 
after  a  moment's  gaze.  "What  did  you  see,  sergeant?  You  looked 
as  though  something  lively  was  up.  Any  sight  of  the  chase  ?" 

But  Jeffers,  crouching  low  and  pointing  over  along  the  slope  not  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  away,  simply  said,  "  Look  there,  sir." 

Two  lithe,  painted  objects,  crawling  slowly  on  all-fours,  with 
feathered  war-bonnets  trailing  along  their  bare  red  backs,  were  rapidly 
nearing  a  third,  who,  bareheaded,  seemed  peering  over  the  ridge  in  his 
front  at  some  other  objects  in  the  ravine  beyond,  at  something  out  of 
sight  from  where  the  troopers  lay.  Behind  the  two  crawling  creatures 
first  seen  came,  at  ten  or  twelve  yards'  distance,  others  of  their  kind, 
eagerly  gesticulating  and  signalling  to  others  still.  All  on  a  sudden 
three  or  four  ponies,  placidly  cropping  the  turf  down  the  slope  behind 
their  creeping  masters,  pricked  up  their  ears  and  glanced  nervously 
around,  and  in  a  moment  there  rode  into  view,  full  tilt,  one  after 
another,  half  a  dozen  more  wild  warriors  in  the  full  panoply  of  their 
craft.  And — it  was  his  first  campaign,  he  was  only  a  boy — Perry 
Thornton's  heart  leaped  up  in  his  throat,  for  the  sunshiny,  breezy, 
billowy  upland  was  simply  alive  with  war-parties  of  Sioux. 

"  I  am  willing  to  do  my  share  of  fight, — fight  double  my  weight 
of  Indians,  gentlemen,"  the  guide  was  saying  a  moment  later.  "  God 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  203 

only  knows  what's  set  them  on  to  us,  but  the  whole  Sioux  nation's 
coming  up  from  the  Mini  Ska,  and  we're  cut  off.  I  can't  fight  all 
hell,  neither  can  you.  The  one  chance  of  getting  out  of  this  is  by  way 
of  Slaughter  Cove.  There's  a  game-trail  over  the  range  back  of  it. 
They  ain't  seen  us  yet.  Now  is  our  time." 

"  Whom  have  they  seen  ?  What  are  they  watching  over  there  ?" 
asked  Thornton,  his  lip  trembling  a  bit  despite  himself. 

"  I  know  without  waiting  to  see.  It's  your  fellers  coming  back 
from  their  chase  after  the  road-agents.  They  have  either  got  the 
money  or  they  haven't  got  it.  In  either  case  it'll  be  of  no  earthly  use 
to  them  in  ten  minutes.  Those  Indians  are  laying  to  lay  'em  out  as 
they  climb  the  trail.  See?" 

See?  It  was  plain  enough  now.  Creeping  like  panthers,  the  lithe, 
sinewy  fellows  were  scurrying  up  to  line  the  crest.  Others,  dismount 
ing  at  the  run,  were  hastening  to  join  them.  Others,  signalling,  were 
conveying  some  tidings  to  another  party  that,  three  miles  away,  could 
now  be  seen  sweeping  at  full  gallop  across  the  Pawnee  road. 

"  Come,  gents,"  said  the  guide,  sliding  back  to  his  horse  and  quickly 
mounting.  "  My  partner  had  more  sense'n  I  when  he  swore  he 
wouldn't  trust  his  scalp  north  of  Wagon  Gap.  If  you  want  to  save 
your  souls  alive,  mount  and  follow  while  there's  yet  time.  I'm  bound 
for  the  Cove  and  back  to  God's  country  beyond." 

A  nervous  young  trooper  started  to  follow  as  the  frontiersman 
went  sliding  and  sprawling  back  down  the  trail,  but  a  stern  voice 
checked  him.  One  glance  in  the  sergeant's  eyes  was  all  the  reas 
surance  Thornton  needed.  The  spirit  of  his  soldier  father  spoke  out 
on  the  instant : 

"  Stay  where  you  are,  men !  Let  that  d — d  coward  go.  We're 
here  to  save  Schultz  and  Schramm." 


XI. 

A  moment  longer  the  two  soldiers,  boy  lieutenant  and  veteran 
sergeant,  remained  crouched  at  the  ridge,  peering  over,  and  in  low 
eager  tones  making  their  plans.  The  actions  of  the  Indians  clearly 
indicated  that  they  were,  as  the  guide  remarked,  "  laying"  for  some 
party  coming  back  along  the  trail.  There  could  not  be  more  than 
four  or  five  in  the  party,  or  the  Indians  would  not  attack  at  the 


204  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

moment,  but  wait  until  they  had  more  of  their  kind  to  back  them. 
There  could  not  be  less  than  two  or  three,  or  the  warriors  would  have 
been  down  on  the  poor  devils  before  this,  six  to  one.  The  one  dread 
now  was  that  they  might  shoot  from  the  rocks  before  their  friends 
could  interfere.  All  this  was  hurriedly  discussed,  then  up  spoke 
Thornton :  "  We'll  charge  at  once.  We  can  drive  them  off,  get 
Schultz  and  Schramm  out,  and  then  all  retire  together  into  the  Cove. 
Mount !  Tumble  up  there,  you  men.  Drop  carbines  and  draw  pistols. 
Keep  watch,  sergeant.  Wait  till  we're  ready." 

And  now  the  intense  excitement  of  the  moment  seems  to  communi 
cate  itself  even  to  the  tired  horses.  Eagerly  they  begin  to  toss  their 
heads  and  paw  the  earth  and  sniff  and  snort.  "  Smell  the  Sioux,  do 
you  ?"  mutters  one  trooper,  as  he  braces  tighter  the  cinch  of  his  saddle. 
There  is  indeed  "  mounting  in  hot  haste,"  yet  without  noise  or  con 
fusion  of  any  kind.  Perry's  young  heart  is  beating  like  a  forge,  and 
for  the  life  of  him  he  can't  prevent  a  trembling  at  the  knees  as  he 
swings  into  saddle  and  looks  to  the  chamber  of  his  revolver.  It's  his 
first  fight,  yet  so  constantly  has  he  studied  and  pondered  over  all  the 
experiences  of  his  comrades  that  he  feels  certain  his  plan  is  the  right 
one, — to  burst  from  their  covert,  stampede  the  dozen  Indians  close  at 
hand,  then  slip  away  with  the  victims  that  were  to  be,  before  the  more 
distant  warriors  can  reach  the  spot.  Once  back  within  the  natural 
fortress  of  the  Cove,  they  can  bid  defiance  to  five  times  their  number. 
Meanwhile,  the  men,  some  a  little  white  and  tremulous,  others,  veterans 
at  the  business,  cool  and  imperturbable,  have  mounted,  slipped  the 
muzzles  of  their  carbines  into  the  ready  sockets,  and,  like  their  young 
leader,  are  testing  their  pistols.  Jeffers  raises  his  hand  in  signal. 
"  They're  getting  ready,  sir.  Two  of  them  are  sighting  now." 

"  Then  we  haven't  a  second  to  lose,"  says  Thornton.  "Just  follow 
me  now,  full  dash ;  but  don't  yell  till  I  do.  Keep  quiet  till  we  get 
right  on  'em.  Then  gather  in  our  fellows  and  get  back  here  quick 
as  you  can.  Forward  now.  I  shan't  give  any  commands." 

Up  the  slope  they  ride  in  column  of  twos.  There's  no  space  to 
form  "  front  into  line."  Perry's  heart  and  Perry's  horse  alike  are 
bounding.  Ten  seconds,  and  they  are  over  the  crest  and  in  full  view 
of  their  foemen  four  hundred  yards  away,  between  them  only  the  open, 
rolling  surface  of  elastic  turf.  Quick  as  each  man  reaches  the  summit 
he  plunges  ahead,  "  opens  out,"  and  rides  up  on  line  with  the  leaders, 
Thornton,  still  curbing  his  excited  horse,  riding  at  plunging  lope  and 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  205 

glancing  back  to  see  his  followers  out  of  the  ravine.  Then  Jeffers 
comes  tearing  up  to  join  him.  Then  comes  a  loud,  resonant,  Indian 
warning,  shouted  from  somewhere  down  the  sunny  slope,  and  then 
there's  no  time  to  think.  Every  man  at  the  instant  claps  spurs  to  his 
horse's  flanks  and  sets  up  a  yell,  and  then  down  they  go  in  sweeping 
charge,  straight  at  the  painted,  feathered  bipeds  leaping  for  their  ponies 
along  the  opposite  rise.  Distant  Indians  let  drive  long-range  shots,  in 
hopes  of  downing  a  horse  and  breaking  the  impetus  of  the  cavalry 
dash.  There  are  three  or  four  of  these  who  have  reached  their  ponies, 
leaped  into  saddle,  and,  as  they  scurry  away,  bend  low  and  send  a  wild 
shot  or  two  at  the  rushing  horsemen,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Thornton 
and  his  followers  come  cheering,  charging  on,  straight  for  the  second 
crest,  and  in  an  instant  one  luckless  warrior  is  tumbled  over  by  the 
leaders,  while  Jeffers  and  Malloy,  long  used  to  hunting  in  couples, 
have  run  down  another,  who,  farther  to  the  left,  had  sought  to  mount 
and  escape.  The  ping  and  crack  of  revolvers  and  Winchesters  echoing 
back  from  the  rocky  range  are  suddenly  dwarfed  by  the  louder  bang 
of  the  Springfield  rifle.  Dashing  up  and  over  the  ridge,  occupied  but 
an  instant  before  by  the  red  men,  Thornton  comes  into  view  of  a  little 
party  away  down  the  trail  ahead  of  him.  Two  of  their  horses  are 
already  shot,  one  stiffening  out  in  death,  one  rolling  in  agony.  Two 
white  men,  dismounted,  are  battling  for  their  lives  against  a  circling 
rush  of  Sioux,  and,  borne  by  the  mad  impetus  of  the  charge,  Perry 
and  the  half-dozen  at  his  heels  swoop  headlong  down  among  the  com 
batants,  and  the  Sioux,  amazed  yet  never  bewildered,  bend  low  on  their 
ponies'  necks  and  go  sweeping  away  up  the  farther  side  of  the  long 
ravine,  then,  circling  about,  spring  to  earth  and  at  long  range  resume 
the  fight.  Their  bullets  are  whistling  about  Thornton's  ears,  as  he 
reins  up  in  the  midst  of  the  rescued  party.  One  man,  with  the  film 
of  death  already  glazing  his  eyes,  a  stranger,  lies  gasping  on  the  turf. 
Over  him,  piteously  crying  his  name,  a  mere  boy  is  bending.  Sergeant 
Schultz,  grave,  yet  with  quivering  lip  and  trembling  hand,  gives  greet 
ing  to  his  young  officer.  "  We  were  surprised,  sir,  and  cut  off.  We 
had  no  hope  of  rescue,"  he  is  saying,  while  the  men  are  rapidly  dis 
mounting  and  running  out  to  kneel  and  return  the  fire  now  coming 
in  from  almost  every  side,  Schramm,  cheering  with  delight  and  enthu 
siasm,  leading  them  on. 

Then  comes  the  up-hill  fight  to  gain  the  Cove.     Not  an  instant 
can  be  lost.     Already,  with  soldierly  appreciation  of  the  situation, 

18 


206  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

Sergeant  Jeffers  has  dismounted  two  or  three  men  to  hold  the  ridge 
over  which  lies  the  line  of  retreat,  and  Thornton,  directing  two  men 
to  lead  back  the  horses,  disperses  his  little  force  as  skirmishers.  "  Get 
your  wounded  back  up  the  hill,"  he  says  to  Schultz.  "  Jeffers  knows 
where  we  are  to  make  our  stand.  Fall  back,  fast  as  you  can.  We'll 
keep  'em  off."  The  bullets  are  nipping  the  bunch-grass  all  round 
them,  and  the  old  German  sergeant's  face  is  very  grave  and  white,  but 
he  never  wavers.  Schramm,  after  hoisting  the  wounded  stranger  into 
saddle  and  giving  the  reins  into  the  hands  of  the  weeping  boy  and 
calling  for  some  one  to  steady  his  father,  runs  back  to  join  the  firing 
line.  Slowly  up  the  trail  now  Schultz  marshals  the  led  horses.  Back 
slowly  between  them  and  the  yelling  Indians,  now  each  moment  rein 
forced,  comes  the  little  band  of  defenders.  Over  to  the  left,  a  young 
trooper,  under  fire  for  the  first  time,  suddenly  drops  his  carbine,  claps 
hands  to  his  leg,  and  sets  up  a  howl  of  misery. 

"  Help  him  if  you  can,  Schramm,"  sings  out  Thornton.  "  Keep 
your  places,  the  rest  of  you."  Thicker  come  the  hissing  bullets  from 
front  and  flank.  Only  Jeffers's  forethought  saves  them  from  attack  in 
rear.  At  last  the  horses,  snorting  and  plunging,  have  reached  the 
ridge  and  are  led  safely  over  into  the  swale  beyond.  At  last  the  Ger 
man  sergeant  has  convoyed  his  wounded  across  the  barrier,  then  turns 
for  one  or  two  shots  over  the  heads  of  his  comrades  now  backing  up 
the  slope.  It  is  the  instinct  of  battle,  the  impulse  of  the  soldier, — 
and  the  last  of  his  soldierly  life.  Finger  on  trigger,  muscular  hand 
grasping  the  brown  carbine  in  the  act  of  aiming,  down,  face  foremost 
on  the  sward,  poor  Schultz  has  tumbled,  a  Winchester  bullet  tearing 
through  his  loyal  heart. 

Five  minutes  later,  in  a  little  amphitheatre  among  the  rocks,  two 
hundred  yards  to  the  west  of  the  ridge  from  which  the  Indians  first 
were  sighted,  the  well-nigh  breathless  detachment  is  regathering,  and 
the  fight  goes  on.  Here,  stretched  on  the  ground,  stone-dead  now, 
lies  the  civilian, — the  stranger  found  in  company  with  Schultz  and 
Schramm, — while  sobbing  over  him  kneels  his  boy.  Here,  badly 
frightened,  the  wounded  recruit  has  been  dropped  and  told  to  quit  his 
noise.  Here,  badly  wounded,  lies  Corporal  Treacy,  an  Irish  trooper 
whose  five  years  in  the  cavalry  have  known  many  a  scene  of  death  and 
danger,  but  whose  only  worry  now  is  that  he  cannot  fire  another  shot. 
Here  Jeffers  is  posting  the  men  among  the  rocks  as  they  arrive,  so  as  to 
cover  the  retreat  of  the  lieutenant  and  two  or  three  still  out  at  the 


SERGEANT  CRCESVS.  207 

front  and  for  the  moment  invisible.  Schramm,  having  dropped  his 
wounded  comrade  under  a  sheltering  boulder,  has  run  up  to  Jeffers 
just  as  two  men  come  drifting  in,  one  supporting  the  other,  who  is 
bleeding  and  deathly  white. 

"  They  have  killed  Bredow,  my  horse,"  he  cries,  his  blue  eyes 
snapping  and  great  beads  of  sweat  starting  from  his  face.  "  Where  is 
the  lieutenant?" 

"  Back  there,  trying  to  lug  in  Schultz's  body,"  gasps  the  wounded 

man.  "  Only  two  fellows  left.  Hurry — save "  and  down  he  goes 

in  a  dead  faint. 

"  Schultz's  body !  Gott  in  Himmel !"  cries  Schramm,  as  with 
one  bound  he  is  over  the  boulders  and  rushing  out  to  the  front  again. 

Two  hundred  yards  away,  just  over  the  ridge,  with  whoop  and  yell 
and  flashing  rifles,  the  Indians  have  concentrated  their  energies  on  one 
devoted  little  squad.  Stumbling  up  the  slope,  Thornton  has  come 
upon  the  prostrate  form  of  the  veteran  soldier,  stone-dead,  yet  in  mute 
appeal  seeming  to  beg  that  he  be  not  left  to  the  savage  mutilation  of 
the  Sioux.  "  Here,  Connor ! — Help  me,  Fritz  !"  he  shouts  to  the 
nearest  men  ;  and  so,  desperate  and  daring,  the  three  join  forces  to  save 
their  friend.  One  drags,  the  others  fire,  and  they  have  just  got  the 
senseless  clay  to  within  ten  yards  of  the  crest,  when  with  triumphant 
rush  and  yell  the  mounted  Sioux  come  charging  at  them.  Poor  Perry  ! 
All  in  a  flash  he  sees  that  hope  has  fled, — that  here  on  this  wild  upland, 
far  from  home  and  loved  ones,  just  at  the  opening  of  the  career  so  long 
sought,  so  proudly  entered,  his  gallant,  manful,  soldierly  effort  has  cost 
him  his  lite.  But  he  has  lived  like  a  Thornton, — like  a  Thornton  he'll 
die ;  and,  kneeling  by  Schultz's  lifeless  form,  he  drives  the  last  shot 
from  the  sergeant's  carbine,  tosses  it  aside,  grips  tight  his  beautiful 
revolver,  a  proud  father's  gift,  and  with  a  last  prayer  on  his  lips,  and 
mother's  face  swimming  before  his  eyes,  braces  himself  for  the  shock. 
There  is  sudden  clamor  of  shots  behind  him.  Straight  in  front,  not 
forty  yards  away,  a  charging  Sioux  plunges  head-foremost  to  the 
ground,  his  pony  veers  wildly,  so  do  two  others,  and  the  well-aimed 
shots  have  taken  effect.  "  Courage !"  he  shouts.  "  They  haven't  got 
us  yet."  For,  checked  by  this  unlooked-for  salute  and  dreading  more, 
the  warriors  duck  and  swerve  and  circle  away.  Then  down  comes 
Schramm,  with  Jeffers  a  close  second. 

"  Quick,  lieutenant !  Quick  !  Back  to  the  ridge  !  We'll  bring 
Schultz." 


208  SERGEANT  CRCESVS. 

Too  late.  Seeing  how  puny  in  numbers  are  the  little  party  of 
rescuers,  the  Sioux  come  on  again,  firing  as  they  dash,  and  then  for  the 
first  time  Thornton  finds  his  hands  and  arms  covered  with  blood.  A 
deadly  faintness  overcomes  him.  The  earth  begins  to  swim  and  rock 
and  whirl,  and  he  only  knows  that  Schramm  has  swung  him  on  his 
broad  and  muscular  shoulders  before  he  swoons  away.  They  are  hold 
ing  his  flask  to  his  lips  when — safe  for  a  time  at  least — he  reopens  his 
eyes  among  the  rocks  at  Slaughter  Cove. 

"  Where  are  the  Indians  ?"  he  faintly  asks. 

"  It's  what  I  can't  understand,"  says  Jeffers.  "  We  could  see  whole 
troops  of  them  riding  away  like  the  wind,  southeastward  towards  the 
Ska.  There  ain't  more'n  a  dozen  round  us  now,  I  reckon, — not  enough 
to  attack,  yet  too  many  to  admit  of  our  getting  out,  with  all  our 
wounded.  Thank  God,  sir,  we  got  you  back  in  time  to  check  the  blood. 
That  bullet  just  missed  the  jugular,  but  you  bled  like  a  stuck  pig. 
Schramm  says  you  were  all  covered  with  it  when  he  reached  you." 

"  I  didn't  know  I  was  hit — more  than  a  mere  graze,"  said  Thorn 
ton,  faintly. 

"  Hit  twice,  sir.  You  got  the  other  when  they  dashed  on  us  at  the 
crest  and  Schramm  had  to  drop  you  for  a  minute." 

"Did  Schramm  carry  me  out?" 

"  Every  foot  of  the  way,  sir.  The  little  Dutchman  is  made  of 
steel :  only  he's  heart-broken  about  Schultz.  We  couldn't  fetch  him 
in,  sir.  They  got  the  body,  after  all,  and  I  had  to  order  Schramm 
under  arrest  to  prevent  his  going  out  a  second  time." 

Thornton  closes  his  eyes  a  moment.  Faint  from  loss  of  blood,  the 
realization  of  the  peril  of  the  past  hour  and  the  danger  of  the  present,  he 
knows  no  pain  from  his  wounds,  he  realizes  that  he  is  in  command, 
responsible  for  all,  and  that  there  may  yet  be  a  demand  for  his  every 
energy.  He  needs  to  think;  yet  everything  seems  awhirl. 

"  Take  another  pull  at  this,  lieutenant,"  says  Jeffers.  "  You're 
very  weak  yet,  but  we're  all  right  now."  And  he  holds  the  flask  to 
the  boy's  lips  and  raises  him  on  his  arm.  "  It's  my  belief  the  battalion 
has  struck  the  main  body  of  these  beggars  over  near  the  river,  and 
flash-signals  have  been  going  for  the  last  hour.  We  can  see  'em  with 
your  glasses.  If  they  have,  we're  well  avenged,  for  there  isn't  an  old 
hand  in  all  the  regiment  that  isn't  just  mad  for  a  fair  fight  with  'em. 
They  won't  bother  us  more  this  day,  so  long  as  we  keep  inside  and 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  209 

under  cover,  and  if  the  colonel's  after  them  the  rest  won't  stop  to 
inquire  for  us  to-raorrow  either." 

"  How  many  are  wounded  ?"  asks  Thornton,  feebly. 

"  Well,  sir,  there's  yourself  and  Corporal  Treacy, — you're  the  only 
ones  seriously  hurt.  Little  Reddy  there  is  shot  in  the  leg,  and  three 
or  four  are  scratched.  Schramm's  shirt  is  full  of  holes,  and  I  thought 
he  must  be  hit,  he  was  so  covered  with  blood.  Between  losing  Schultz 
and  Bredow,  he  feels  pretty  well  broke  up ;  but  there  won't  be  anything 
too  good  for  him  in  the  regiment  when  we  get  back,  sir.  Here  he 
comes  now :  he's  been  over  at  the  spring,  washing  off  the  blood." 

Thornton  feebly  turns:  "Schramm,  my  brave  fellow!  it  seems 
I  owe  my  life  to  vou.  Where  would  I  have  been  but  for  your  cour 
age?" 

And  Schramm,  apparently  not  seeing  the  hand  feebly  outstretched, 
stands  at  salute  and  replies, — 

"  Where  would  I  have  been,  sir,  but  for  the  lieutenant  ?" 


XII. 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  DETACHMENT  — TH  INFANTRY, 
CAMP  AT  SLAUGHTER  COTE,  June  — ,  187 — . 

"PosT  ADJUTANT,  FORT  RANSOM: 

"  SIR, — I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  in  compliance  with  the 
verbal  orders  of  the  major  commanding  the  battalion  I  marched  with 
four  officers  and  seventy  men  of  Companies  E  and  H,  — th  Infantry,  to 
the  relief  of  Lieutenant  Thornton's  detachment  of  the  llth  Cavalry, 
reported  besieged  by  Indians  at  this  point.  Leaving  camp  of  the 
battalion  on  the  Mini  Ska  at  1  A.M.  on  Wednesday,  with  three  days' 
cooked  rations,  we  reached  Buffalo  Springs  soon  after  dawn  (6J  miles), 
pushed  on  through  Wagon  Gap,  reaching  the  head- waters  of  Fossil 
Creek  (27J  miles  from  camp)  at  10.45.  From  this  point  our  advance 
was  slow,  as  Indians  could  be  seen  along  the  heights,  and  we  had  reason 
to  expect  attack.  They  drew  off  at  our  approach,  however,  and  we 
reached  the  besieged  party  near  Slaughter  Cove  about  1  P.M.,  much  to 
the  relief  of  its  members,  who,  though  at  no  time  suffering  fqr  food  or 
water,  were  without  surgical  attention  for  their  wounded,  and  had  had 

18* 


210  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

a  sharp  fight  with  a  large  force  of  hostiles  on  Sunday,  and  had  been 
under  fire  much  of  the  time  ever  since.  Fortunately  for  them,  the 
general  engagement  between  their  comrades  of  the  Eleventh  and  the 
main  body  of  the  enemy,  forty  miles  to  the  southeast,  had  the  effect  of 
drawing  all  but  a  small  number  away  from  their  front  and  of  driving 
them  thence  to  the  agency.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe,  however, 
they  would  have  returned  by  this  time  to  finish  their  bloody  work  had 
we  not  been  hurried  to  the  scene. 

"  The  killed  are  Sergeant  Schultz  and  a  civilian  by  the  name  of 
Stearns,  whose  son,  a  lad  of  eighteen,  is  with  us,  but  seems  so  dis 
tracted  by  his  recent  experience  that  his  mind  is  unbalanced.  The 
civilian  was  one  of  a  party  of  four  who  had  ridden  northward  and 
were  pursued  by  Sergeant  Schultz  and  Private  Schramm  on  the  sup 
position  that  they  were  connected  with  the  paymaster's  robbery  at 
Minden  and  had  the  money  with  them.  Schramm  reports  that  these 
two  met  them  close  to  the  scene  of  the  fight,  galloping  back,  saying 
they  were  attacked  by  Sioux,  and  their  comrades,  who  were  some  dis 
tance  ahead,  were  probably  killed.  The  speedy  appearance  of  the 
Indians  proved  the  truth  of  part  at  least  of  their  story.  Lieutenant 
Thornton's  prompt  charge  saved  the  lives  of  the  two  troopers,  but  in 
the  engagement  which  followed  Schultz  was  killed,  and  the  other 
casualties  were  the  result  of  an  attempt  to  save  his  body.  Lieutenant 
Thornton,  who  appears  to  have  behaved  with  great  gallantry  through 
out,  being  twice  wounded  in  the  effort,  was  himself  saved  from  death 
by  the  devotion  of  Private  Schramm,  who  bore  him  away  on  his 
shoulders  in  the  face  of  a  dozen  enemies.  Among  the  other  wounded 
are  Sergeant  Jeffers,  Corporal  Treacy,  Troopers  Reddy  and  Gross.  Dr. 
French  reports  that  they  can  speedily  be  moved  to  Pawnee,  and  urges 
that  as  soon  as  possible  ambulances  be  sent  to  meet  us. 

"  After  the  wounding  of  Sergeant  Jeffers,  the  active  command  of 
the  defence  was  vested  in  Private  Schramm,  whose  bravery  and  skill 
were  so  marked  as  to  win  from  his  superiors  the  most  unstinted  praise. 
He  is  new  threatened  with  fever  as  the  result  of  exposure  and  ex 
haustion  and  grief  over  the  death  of  his  friend,  but  Dr.  French  hopes 
that  it  will  prove  nothing  of  great  gravity. 

"  We  begin  the  homeward  march,  carrying  the  wounded  on  litters, 
to-morrow  morning.  The  body  of  Sergeant  Schultz,  fearfully  muti 
lated,  was  found  and  afterwards  buried  by  our  men  this  afternoon. 

"  The  conduct  of  the  detachment  under  my  command  was  excel- 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  211 

lent:  every  man  was  in  his  place  at  the  end  of  the  thirty-five-mile 
march. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  D.  G.  FENTON, 
"  Capt.  — th  Infantry,  Commanding" 

Such  was  the  official  report  which  had  followed  Rhett's  command 
back  to  Ransom  and  brought  a  gleam  of  sunshine  through  all  the 
gloom.  The  death  of  Captain  Manning,  an  officer  of  sterling  worth, 
and  that  of  so  many  good  men  and  true,  three  of  whom  had  families 
at  the  post,  could  not  but  weigh  heavily  on  the  spirits  of  one  and 
all.  The  home-coming  of  the  wounded,  however,  called  for  the  active 
services  of  many  hands  as  well  as  the  liveliest  sympathy  of  every 
heart,  for  the  journey  by  field  and  rail  had  been  a  trying  ordeal  in  the 
fierce  heat  which  for  seven  days  after  Winthrop's  fight  had  seemed  to 
hard-bake  the  broad  valley  of  the  Ska  even  to  the  westward  moun 
tains.  Then  the  grief  aroused  by  the  casualties  in  the  main  engage 
ment  had  been  supplemented  by  keen  anxiety  as  to  the  fate  of 
Perry  Thornton  and  his  party.  Rhett  was  a  cool-headed  fellow  and 
had  done  about  the  right  thing :  even  Edwards  and  other  cavalry 
cranks  were  ready  to  admit  that.  Aroused  soon  after  midnight  by  his 
officer  of  the  day  and  the  demoralized  deputy,  he  had  little  time  to 
think.  Orders  required  him  with  his  battalion  to  march  back  to 
Pawnee  as  escort  for  the  wounded.  Communication  with  department 
head-quarters  in  the  dead  of  night  would  have  involved  hours  of 
delay.  The  deputy  might  be  lying,  yet  the  chances  were  in  favor  of 
the  truth  of  his  stories.  Rhett  knew  the  bulk  of  the  Indians  must 
have  scampered  for  home  in  order  to  show  up  at  the  muster  sure  to 
be  made,  so  as  to  convince  the  agency  officials,  at  least,  of  their  pres 
ence,  and  that  they  therefore  could  have  had  no  part  in  the  recent  out 
rages.  The  general  had  taken  the  field,  going  'cross  country  after 
Winthrop,  and  was  now  far  beyond  telegraphic  reach.  If  the  Sioux 
had  surrounded  Thornton  near  Slaughter  Cove,  the  sooner  help  was 
sent  the  better.  Fenton,  always  ready  for  anything  and  keenly  relish 
ing  the  idea  of  footmen  marching  to  the  relief  of  cavalry,  was  promptly 
told  to  take  his  own  company  and  Company  E  and  "  get  there."  The 
cooks  were  up,  coffee  boiling,  and  bacon  sizzling,  before  the  order  was 
fairly  out  of  the  major's  mouth,  and  the  command  marched  away 


212  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

towards  the  gap  in  the  far  blue  hills  under  the  twinkling  pole-star 
within  the  hour. 

"  God  speed  you,  old  man  !  Send  us  word  quick  as  you  can,"  said 
Rhett,  as  the  dusky  little  column  went  swinging  away  out  of  camp. 
"Give  'em  a  lick  for  me,  Mickey,"  called  Private  Toohey  to  a  chum 
in  a  luckier  company  than  his  own.  And  that  was  the  last  heard  of 
them  for  twenty-nine  hours.  Then  two  of  the  lately-besieged  troopers, 
Fritz  and  Renter,  came  trotting  in  among  the  travois  just  as  the  con 
voy  broke  camp  at  the  mouth  of  Pawnee  Gorge,  twenty  miles  nearer 
home.  Leaving  the  Cove  at  dark  the  previous  evening,  they  had 
ridden  all  night  with  the  news  of  the  rescue,  had  routed  out  the  tele 
graph  operator  at  Ska  Bridge  and  sent  away  certain  despatches  with 
which  they  were  charged,  had  learned  that  the  major  and  his  command 
had  passed  on  about  nine  A.M.  and  would  be  found  somewhere  to  the 
south  along  Pawnee  Fork,  and  then  pushed  ahead  with  the  glad 
tidings.  Everybody,  therefore,  at  Ransom  knew  the  main  facts  long 
before  Rhett  and  the  wounded  got  home.  Everybody  mourned  for 
Schultz,  a  veteran  of  nearly  twenty  years'  service  in  the  regiment,  and 
rejoiced  for  Schramm,  who  had  covered  himself  with  glory.  Every 
body  was  proud  of  Thornton's  spirited  behavior  in  his  maiden  fight, 
and  full  of  genuine  distress  over  his  wounds.  Edwards,  badly  shot 
and  a  veteran  of  many  a  tough  cavalry  campaign,  wasn't  the  object  of 
one-tenth  the  sympathy  that  was  lavished  on  "  Pretty  Perry,"  one  of 
whose  hurts — that  slit  along  his  neck — was  a  mere  scratch,  that  would 
be  an  ornament  to  him  all  the  rest  of  his  life,  while  the  hole  bored 
by  the  little  Winchester  in  his  side  was  something  that  would  soon 
heal  and  seldom  hurt  him.  But  who  can  paint  the  sensation  at  the 
Thorntons' happy  home?  Delight  and  dismay  intermingled!  Tele 
gram  followed  telegram,  that  which  came  from  the  general  late  in  the 
day  blinding  Colonel  Thornton's  eyes  :  "  The  regiment  glories  in  your 
gallant  boy.  We'll  send  him  East  on  leave  at  once.  Full  report  by 
mail." 

Then  with  what  eagerness  they  waited  the  coming  of  letters  and 
particulars !  with  what  emotion  did  they  read  Perry's  modest  pencil 
scrawl,  bidding  them  ascribe  all  credit  to  Jeffers  and  give  all  gratitude 
to  Schraram !  with  what  fluttering  hearts,  what  tearful  eyes,  did  they 
strive  to  read  Fenton's  letter  telling  the  story  of  Perry's  dash  to  the 
rescue  of  the  imperilled  troopers,  of  his  heroic  effort  to  save  poor 
Schultz's  body,  of  the  daring  and  devotion  of  Trooper  Schramm,  of 


SERGEANT  CRCKSUS.  213 

the  enthusiastic  praise  the  little  detachment  lavished  on  their  young 
lieutenant !  Here  at  least  there  was  no  division  of  sympathy  or  senti 
ment.  Here  at  least  was  Perry  the  hero  of  the  Indian  campaign,  the 
future  leader  in  many  another.  Stopping  only  long  enough  to  drop 
in  upon  a  little  coterie  of  old  campaigners,  receive  their  hearty  con 
gratulations,  and  read  them  the  despatches  from  the  seat  of  war,  the 
veteran  colonel  left  by  first  train  for  the  far  West  to  meet  his  boy  and 
to  bear  to  that  brave  and  devoted  Prussian  trooper  the  blessings,  the 
gratitude,  and  the  assurance  of  the  fervent  prayers  of  mother  and 
sisters  for  his  own  happiness  and  prosperity  for  all  the  years  of  his 
life — and  beyond. 

Four  days  and  nights  of  ceaseless  travel  it  took  the  colonel  to 
reach  Pawnee.  By  that  time  the  general  with  Tintop  and  the  regi 
ment  was  far  to  the  northeast,  straightening  out  another  squabble,  the 
army  as  usual  acting  as  buffer  between  the  Indians  and  the  people 
and  getting  hard  knocks  on  both  sides.  By  that  time  Rhett  with  his 
command  was  back  at  Ransom,  and  Fenton  with  the  wounded  from 
Slaughter  Cove  was  on  the  homeward  march.  They  were  breaking 
camp  in  Pawnee  Gorge,  thirty  miles  north  of  the  station,  just  about  the 
time  that  No.  3  went  whistling  down  the  grade,  shooting  the  sharp 
curves  of  Antelope  Fork  after  leaving  the  colonel  to  be  received  by  the 
quartermaster  at  Pawnee  Station.  His  first  question  was  for  news  of 
his  boy,  who  was  doing  splendidly,  said  the  officer,  when  they  passed 
Ska  Bridge  yesterday.  "  Fenton's  going  to  send  him  with  one  or  two 
others  ahead  in  the  ambulances  this  morning.  They'll  be  here  before 
noon.  Schramm  comes  in  at  the  same  time,  poor  fellow.  He's  got  an 
ugly  touch  of  fever,  Dr.  French  wires,  and  they  want  to  get  him  to 
hospital  as  soon  as  possible.  The  death  of  his  friend  Schultz  seems  to 
have  been  a  hard  blow." 

"  I  wish  they'd  let  me  take  him  home  with  us,"  said  Colonel 
Thornton,  with  glistening  eyes.  "  I  know  a  little  woman  who  followed 
the  drum  many  a  long  year  with  me,  and  two  pretty  girls  as  ever  were 
born  under  the  flag, — if  it  is  their  father  who  says  it, — who  would  be 
only  too  happy  to  spend  nights  and  days  for  weeks  to  come  nursing 
that  young  gentleman  back  to  life.  Do  you  know  him  at  all  ?" 

"  Only  by  sight,  sir.  He  was  quite  a  character  at  the  post,  owing 
to  his  devotion  to  Captain  Morgan,  who  helped  him  out  of  a  close  call 
last  year  just  after  he  enlisted.  They  all  agree  that  he  is  a  gentleman 


214  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

by  birth  and  breeding,  whom  some  freak  of  fortune  has  landed  on  our 
shores.  He'd  get  the  Iron  Cross  at  home  for  this  exploit." 

"  Well,  we'll  show  him  here  that  if  we  have  no  decorations  to  offer, 
we  Americans  know  how  to  appreciate  heroism  and  reward  it.  There's 
nothing  much  too  good  for  such  a  fellow,  in  our  eyes." 

An  hour  later,  the  sun  just  peeping  up  over  the  eastern  verge  of 
the  plateau  and  the  colonel  and  his  host  being  comforted  with  early 
coffee,  the  quartermaster  could  not  help  but  note  how  wistfully  the  old 
soldier's  eyes  kept  turning  to  the  northern  road.  An  inspiration  seized 
him. 

"  Look  here,  colonel,  it's  going  to  be  a  hot  day,  and  those  fellows 
would  be  glad  of  a  little  ice.  Suppose  we  take  my  buckboard  and 
drive  out  and  meet  them  ?"  And  Thornton,  after  the  proper  amount 
of  hesitancy  as  to  taking  an  officer  away  from  his  duties,  gladly 
assented.  So  the  quartermaster  ordered  out  his  team,  and  by  six  o'clock 
they  were  bowling  over  the  magnificent  prairie  road,  with  the  sun 
clambering  higher  every  minute,  and  with  a  couple  of  buckets  of  ice, 
blanket-swathed,  swinging  under  the  rear  axle.  Two  hours  later, 
rounding  a  bold  shoulder  of  bluff  among  the  bends  of  the  Pawnee 
Gorge,  they  caught  sight  of  white  wagon-covers  halted  at  a  little  clump 
of  willows  half  a  mile  ahead.  "  Hurrah  !  Yonder  they  are  at  the 
Springs,"  said  the  quartermaster. 

And  there  they  found  them.  Two  or  three  soldiers  were  passing 
cups  of  the  cool,  sparkling  water  to  the  fevered  hands  under  the 
canvas  screens.  The  young  doctor,  dismounted,  catching  sight  of  the 
coming  buckboard,  sauntered  forward  to  meet  it,  in  hopes  of  letters. 
One  glance  at  the  gray-moustached  soldier  by  the  driver's  side  was 
enough. 

With  extended  hand  he  hastened  to  help  him  alight,  as  the  quarter 
master  reined  in  his  braying  mules. 

"  Colonel  Thornton,  I  feel  certain,"  said  he.  "  Tender's  your  boy 
in  the  ambulance, — jolly  as  any  Mark  Tapley  you  ever  heard  of." 
And  Thornton,  unable  at  the  moment  to  speak  a  word,  grasped  and 
shook  the  doctor's  hand,  bowed  his  gray  head,  and  passed  him  by. 

"  There's  a  meeting  that  would  disarm  the  cynicism  of  a  Carlyle," 
said  the  doctor,  an  instant  later,  though  both  men  turned  their  backs 
and  looked  away,  for  under  the  lifted  curtain  of  his  trundling  litter 
Perry  had  peeped  and  seen  his  father's  face, — the  father  whom  he  sup 
posed  two  thousand  miles  away. 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  215 

Just  before  noon  that  day,  under  the  doctor's  careful  supervision, 
the  wounded  were  being  lifted  from  the  wagons  and  borne  beneath 
the  canvas  flies  stretched  for  them  in  the  coolest  and  breeziest  part 
of  the  quartermaster's  guarded  corral.  Perry,  boy-like,  had  insisted 
on  scrambling  out  on  his  feet,  partly  to  show  how  lively  he  was, 
partly  that  he  might  be  close  at  hand  when  there  was  borne  with  meas 
ured  tread  and  gentle  hands  the  prostrate  form  of  a  trooper  whose 
flushed  face  and  twitching  hands  and  glittering  eyes  proved  him  to  be 
in  the  clutch  of  burning  fever.  About  his  litter,  anxiety  in  every 
look,  hovered  the  colonel  and  his  wounded  boy,  for  there  lay  gallant 
Schramm,  blind  to  their  solicitude,  deaf  to  any  word  of  cheer. 

u  I  think  we  can  bring  him  round  in  a  few  days  of  quiet  here," 
said  Dr.  French,  "  but  quiet  we  must  have." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  the  colonel,  decidedly,  "  we  don't  leave  here  until 
you  do.  There  are  mother  and  sisters  hungering  at  home  to  get  at 
Perry,  but  neither  my  boy  nor  I  can  turn  a  back  on  a  soldier  like 
Schramm.  Let  me  know  just  what  he  needs,  and  every  cent  we've  got 
is  at  your  service." 

"  It  is  a  serious  fever,  I  fear,"  said  the  doctor,  "  but  what  he  needs 
most  now  is  absolute  repose.  We've  got  to  guard  him  against  disturb 
ance  of  any  kind." 

"  Do  you  mean  he  can't  be  moved  at  all,  doctor  ?"  asked  a  man 
who,  with  one  or  two  other  civilians,  had  entered  the  enclosure  despite 
the  efforts  of  the  corral-master,  who,  positive  at  first  in  his  refusal,  had 
stepped  back  bewildered  at  sight  of  a  formidable  paper. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Dr.  French,  shortly,  with  the  "  Who  are  you  ?" 
expression  that  comes  into  the  faces  of  the  most  even-tempered  of  men 
when  disturbed  in  the  midst  of  their  duties. 

"  Then  we've  simply  got  to  camp  here  till  he  can  be, — me  and  my 
party." 

"  You  have  ?     I'd  like  to  know  why." 

"  'Cause  I  don't  mean  to  lose  my  position  through  losing  him. 
Here's  my  warrant.  That  man's  wanted  for  the  Minden  robbery." 


XIII. 


It  was  July  before  the  sheriff  of  Latimer  County  would  have  been 
allowed  the  undisputed  custody  of  the  person  of  Trooper  Schramm,  and 


216  SERGEANT  CE(ESUS. 

by  that  time  the  sheriff  began  to  wonder  whether  he  really  wanted  him 
or  not.     To  begin  with,  the  young  German  lay  at  Pawnee  for  nearly 
a  week  in  about  the  hottest  fever  Dr.  French  had  ever  encountered. 
The  infantry  went  on  home  to  Ransom  with  most  of  Thornton's  little 
squad  and  the  wounded,  but  Colonel  Thornton's  influence  with  his  old 
comrade  the  adjutant-general  of  the  department  was  amply  sufficient 
to  have  the  doctor  and  some  attendants  remain  there  with  his  son  and 
Schramm.     There  were  days  of  delirium  in  which  the  young  Prussian 
babbled  of  the  Rhineland,  of  home  and  mother,  of  old  days  in  saddle 
with  the  Hussars  on  the  sunny  slopes  beyond  Metz,  of  mad  envy  at 
sight  of  Bredow's  squadrons  riding  away  eastward  from  the  heights  of 
Tronville,  down  the  sheltering  ravine,  then  up  the  slopes  again  and, 
in  headlong  charge,  full  on  the  front  of  the  battling  French.     Then, 
exultant,  he  seemed  to  hear  the  longed-for  order  for  his  own  fellows, 
to  recall  the  keen  soldier  rivalry  between  Uhlan,  cuirassier,  and  hussar 
as  the   three  regiments  "  lined  up"  for  their  charge,  with  dragoons 
and  hussars  in  support,  and  with  the  August  sun  just  sinking  in  the 
west   they  swooped    down    upon    the   arrayed  divisions  of  Moutern 
and  Clerambault  to  the  north  of  Mars-la-Tour.     And  then  he  lived 
again   the  perilous  hour  of  his  first  experience  with  the  Sioux,  and 
poured  out  his  heart  in  gratitude  to  the  officer  who  so  pluckily  saved 
him.    Old  Thornton,  sitting  by  his  camp  cot,  his  father-heart  yearning 
over  his  own  boy  lying  in  placid  slumber  close  at  hand,  learned  enough 
to  guide  him  in  a  letter  to  the  American  legation  at  Berlin, — a  sol 
dier  father's  letter  to  another  soldier  father  in  a  foreign  laud,  angered 
at  and  estranged  from  the  son  of  whose  very  existence,  perhaps,  he  was 
in  doubt.    The  letter  was  posted  before  Thornton  heard  him  babble  of 
other  names,  and  tell  of  the  gnadige  Frauleiu,  Morgan's  oldest  child, 
and  with  grave  face  the  colonel  rose  and  looked  at  his  sleeping  boy, 
and  went  out  upon  the  breezy  prairie,  walking  for  hours  before  his 
return.     Many  things  did  Schramm  mutter  and  murmur  and  reveal 
that  Thornton  could  not  understand  at  all,  but  he  knew  enough  Ger 
man  to  divine  much  of  the  soldier's  past,  and  to  demand  of  his  son 
what  letter  was  that  he  sent  to  Constance  Morgan ;   whereat  Perry, 
looking  much  amazed,  answered,  with  all   promptitude,  "Letter  to 
Connie  Morgan  ?     Why,  certainly  !     I  wrote  to  her  the  second  day 
out  from  Ransom  to  tell  her  what  you  told  me  about  promotion  and  to 
ask  her  to  send  us  the  measures  for  her  father's  belt  and  helmet.    The 
men  of  the  old  troop  were  bound  to  send  him  his  captain's  shoulder- 


SERGEANT  CRfESUS.  217 

knots,  and  some  one  suggested  that  it  might  be  a  pious  idea  to  chip  in 
and  order  a  complete  new  outfit,  helmet  and  knots  and  belt  and  all, — 
just  to  surprise  him.  Some  thought  he  might  take  offence,  but  old 
Tintop  swore  he  shouldn't."  And  Thornton  p£re  walked  out  again. 
Perry  had  never  lied  to  him  in  his  life.  Would  it  be  fair  to  ask  the 
boy  if  he  had  been  making  love  to  Morgan's  motherless  daughter? 

But  within  the  week  the  crisis  was  over :  Schramm  was  out  of 
danger.  Mother  and  sisters  were  clamoring  for  Perry  at  home,  so 
eastward  went  the  colonel  and  his  boy,  and  presently,  by  easy  stages, 
westward  went  Schramm,  his  escort  camping  at  Alkali,  crossing  to  the 
north  bank  and  going  on  to  Miuden,  where  camp  was  made  again,  and 
where  Mr.  Fisk,  the  agent,  came  over,  ostensibly  to  see  if  he  could  be 
of  any  service,  and  then  went  back  to  his  office  and  said  to  a  deputy 
sheriff  that  if  that  was  one  of  the  men  who  came  in  with  the  despatch 
that  Friday  morning  of  the  1st  of  June  he'd  changed  so  he  couldn't 
tell  him. 

Meantime,  Rand  had  been  clear  around  to  the  agency  by  the  other 
route,  and  turned  up  again  at  Butte  the  day  Schramm  was  returned  to 
Ransom.  "Don't  you  disturb  him,  Mr.  Sheriff,"  said  he;  "and  just 
take  my  advice  now,  don't  go  too  fast  on  this  trail ;  you  may  get  in  so 
far  you  can't  get  back — with  credit  to  yourself."  And  out  at  the  post 
the  doctor  had  given  strict  orders  that  nobody  should  breathe  in 
Schramm's  hearing  what  everybody  knew, — that  he  was"  wanted"  for 
the  Mindeu  robbery.  "  My  first  duty  is  to  see  him  restored  to  health 
and  strength,"  said  he :  "  then  the  law  must  take  its  course."  And  so, 
with  the  regiment  long  miles  away,  Schramm  lay  patiently  in  hospital, 
tenderly  thought  for  by  every  one,  frequently  remembered  through 
the  mails  by  the  distant  family  of  Thorntons,  promoted  corporal  of  his 
troop  in  regimental  orders  promulgated  from  head-quarters  in  the  field 
and  read  to  the  whole  assembled  command  both  there  and  here  at 
Ransom,  reciting  the  heroic  nature  of  his  conduct  in  the  affair  at 
Slaughter  Cove  and  the  skill  and  bravery  with  which,  his  superiors 
being  disabled  by  wounds,  he  had  conducted  the  defence.  All  this  was 
very  pleasant  to  Schramm,  whose  eyes  lighted  with  joy  when  Morgan, 
his  captain  now,  and  Jeffers,  invalided  by  wounds,  and  Treacy  ditto, 
all  came  in  to  congratulate  him ;  but  the  sweetest  thing  in  life  to  the 
convalescing  soldier  was  the  sight  of  Connie  Morgan's  pretty  face 
when,  regularly  as  the  day  came  round,  the  gnadige  Fraulein  appeared 
with  some  little  bunch  of  wild  flowers,  some  little  dainty  or  cool  drink, 
K  19 


218  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

but  always  with  her  gentle  voice  and  soft  brown  eyes  and  sweet,  serious 
smile,  to  ask  how  the  corporal  was  feeling  this  bright  day.  The  only 
trouble  now  was  that  he  began  to  get  well  too  fast.  His  fellow  non 
commissioned  officers,  Jeffers  and  Treacy,  limping  in  one  day,  said  there 
was  a  big  row  among  the  railway  people  all  over  the  East.  "  Riots 
and  ructions"  had  followed.  The  militia  and  police  were  whipped. 
The  regiment  had  been  whisked  in  from  the  field,  piled  into  passenger- 
cars,  and  sent  away  towards  Omaha,  and  they,  the  wounded  of  the 
Indian  war,  were  losing  this  trip  to  civilization  and  beyond.  Next 
day  Rhett  and  his  men  were  suddenly  telegraphed  for,  and  again  was 
Captain  Morgan  both  ordnance-  and  commanding  officer. 

And  then  one  beautiful  day  Schramm  sent  for  Mrs.  Hinkel  and  his 
box,  and  she,  weeping,  came  to  Constance,  and  together  they  appealed 
to  Morgan,  and  then  the  old  man  in  the  new  shoulder-straps  realized 
that  the  matter  could  no  longer  be  hidden,  and  before  nightfall  Schramm 
learned  that  he  was  under  the  surveillance  of  the  sheriff,  charged  with 
being  accessory  to  the  robbery  of  Paymaster  Graves,  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  receiving  and  concealing  a  certain  part  of  the  money.  And 
Schramm,  speechless  with  wrath  and  amaze,  stood  attention  to  his 
captain  on  the  hospital  porch,  and  simply  quivered  and  shook  and 
clinched  his  hands.  Morgan  made  him  sit  down,  and,  prefacing  his 
statement  with  the  assurance  that  no  one  who  knew  him  believed  him 
in  the  faintest  way  connected  with  the  robbery,  went  on  to  say  there 
were  certain  matters  that,  unexplained,  seemed  to  point  to  him  with 
the  finger  of  suspicion.  He  and  Schultz  left  camp  on  Bear  Fork 
toward  half-past  twelve  A.M.,  and  though  they  started  back  by  the 
trail  of  the  regiment  they  had  probably  left  it  and  borne  away  over 
to  the  south  so  as  to  ride  along  the  bank  of  the  Ska,  in  plain  view  of 
Minden,  ten  minutes  after  the  departure  of  No.  3  and  just  after  the 
robbery.  A  Mr.  Long  had  seen  two  troopers  on  roans  riding  briskly 
west  at  that  time.  The  operator  said  the  troopers  had  come  in  before 
hand  with  the  false  despatch,  and  he  thought  they  might  have  looked 
like  Schultz  and  Schramm.  The  paymaster  couldn't  be  sure, — couldn't 
identify  him  ;  but  Mr.  Lacy,  the  clerk,  had  described  the  two  who  met 
them  at  the  train  and  led  them  back  from  the  de"pot  while  he  followed 
in  rear,  and  Lacy's  description  certainly  pointed  to  them.  Then  on 
reaching  the  garrison  Schramm  had  gone  to  Mrs.  Hinkel,  got  his  box, 
put  a  package  in  it  and  charged  her  on  no  account  to  let  it  fall  into 
other  hands,  and  this  box  the  sheriff  had  opened  in  presence  of  the 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  219 

commanding  officer,  and  the  first  thing  found  was  an  envelope  contain 
ing  five  hundred  dollars  in  fifties,  which  Lacy  was  ready  to  swear  was 
some  of  the  lot  taken  from  the  paymaster's  valise.  Then  they  were  in 
town  together  and  hurried  away  the  moment  they  learned  that  the 
robbery  was  known  and  soldiers  suspected,  and  instead  of  returning  to 
the  regiment  they  had  turned  off  and  gone  away  northward  through 
Wagon  Gap  until  met  and  run  back  by  the  Sioux.  This,  said  Morgan, 
was  the  case  against  him  as  far  as  he  knew. 

Schramm's  first  question  was  as  to  the  letters  and  papers :  where 
were  they  ?  "  Sealed  up  and  safe,"  said  Morgan.  "  We  have  the 
officer's  pledge  as  to  that.  So  is  the  money  sealed  up."  But  Schramm 
didn't  seem  to  care  about  the  money.  That  was  of  little  consequence. 
He  could  explain  at  once  where  it  came  from.  A  draft  from  the  old 
country  had  reached  him  early  in  May  at  a  time  when  he  wished  to 
use  money,  and  Schultz  cashed  it  for  him.  Schultz  would  not  put  his 
savings  in  the  Butte  banks.  His  money  was  in  Chicago.  He  had  had 
money  sent  out  to  him  by  express.  This  could  be  verified  at  the 
express-office,  and  the  draft  could  doubtless  be  traced  back  through 
Schulty/s  Chicago  banker.  As  for  their  taking  the  Minden  road,  it 
was  not  much  longer,  they  had  plenty  of  time,  and  the  road  near  the 
river  was  prettier.  Close  to  the  bridge  on  the  south  side  they  had  seen 
some  horses  held  by  one  or  two  men  just  as  the  train  pulled  away. 
Then  away  over  by  the  d6p6t  were  some  fellows  who  appeared  to  be 
wearing  cavalry  overcoats,  ranchmen  probably  who  were  going  to  drive 
out  some  distance,  as  troopers  wouldn't  think  of  wearing  overcoats  in 
June.  They  were  interested  watching  the  distant  train,  however, 
speeding  away  westward,  and  they  rode  at  a  brisk  lope  up  the  valley, 
never  thinking  of  the  party  of  men  and  horses  again  until  that  after 
noon.  Then,  hearing  of  the  robbery,  it  flashed  upon  them  that  they 
had  seen  the  perpetrators,  and  back  they  went,  heard  of  them  down 
the  stream  drinking  and  quarrelling  among  themselves,  were  close 
on  their  trail  opposite  Wagon  Gap,  and  decided  to  follow,  thinking 
they  might  possibly  overhaul  and  recapture  some  of  them,  at  least, 
with  the  result  already  known.  Beyond  the  Cove  they  came  upon 
Stearns  and  his  boy  racing  back  for  their  lives,  pursued  by  Indians. 
No  time  to  ask  questions  then.  It  was  fight  for  life  against  the  common 
foe.  The  man  was  killed  before  he  could  tell  his  story,  and  now 
Schultz  was  gone.  Schramm  had  to  face  it  alone. 

"  No,  not  alone,"  said   Morgan.     "  We  believe  you  guiltless  and 


220  SERGEANT  CROSS  US. 

mean  to  see  you  through."  And  then  Colonel  Rand  came  out  to  see 
him.  What  Rand  wanted  was  to  know  what  had  been  done  with  the 
papers,  etc.,  taken  from  the  civilian  who  died  of  his  wounds  at  the 
Cove.  All  Schultz's  effects,  of  course,  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
officers  whose  duty  it  was  to  take  charge  of  the  papers  and  property  of 
deceased  soldiers.  Rand  said  the  boy  had  been  taken  to  an  asylum 
and  was  recovering,  but  had  neither  money  nor  papers  of  any  kind. 
Schramm  could  hardly  be  persuaded  to  sit  in  the  presence  of  an  officer 
of  such  distinction  as  Rand,  but  succumbed  to  orders.  A  wallet  with 
letters  and  papers  and  a  little  money,  a  silver  watch,  and  a  tobacco-box, 
had  been  taken  from  the  body  before  burial.  These  were  all  turned 
over  to  Captain  Fenton  when  he  came.  The  man's  name  was  Stearns, 
and  his  post-office  address  Minden.  And  then  up  jumped  Rand  with 
light  in  his  eyes. 

"  That's  what  I  wanted  to  know,"  said  he.  "  I  thought  I'd  seen 
that  poor  boy  before. — Now,  corporal,  don't  worry  about  this  matter. 
We  could  acquit  you  easily  enough,  but  there's  something  else  to  be 
done.  We  want  to  nail  the  real  perpetrators  and  get  that  money  back 
if  possible  :  so  the  trial  can't  come  off  just  yet." 

"  But — pardon,  colonel,"  said  Schramm,  rising  again.  "  May  I 
not  my  box  have?  There  are  letters,  portraits, — home-gifts."  And 
Rand  said  he  was  going  in  to  see  the  sheriff  then  and  there. 

A  month  the  troops  from  the  plains  were  kept  on  duty  in  and 
around  the  rail  way -centres  of  the  West.  Four  long  weeks  the  garrison 
at  Ransom  consisted  of  Morgan,  the  surgeon,  the  band,  the  ordnance- 
sergeant  and  clerk,  quartermaster,  employees,  and  so  on,  with  the 
hospital  steward  and  attendants,  the  sick  and  wounded.  Schramm, 
convalescing  rapidly  now,  was  assigned  to  daily  duty  at  the  adjutant's 
office.  Jeffers,  still  limping  a  little,  with  Treacy  and  others,  became 
the  nucleus  of  a  species  of  running  guard,  and  did  patrol  and  watch 
duty.  The  railway  company,  grateful  for  the  services  of  the  troops  in 
saving  their  property,  sent  a  sleeper  to  Butte  and  an  invitation  for  such 
of  the  officers'  families  as  would  like  to  go  to  Chicago,  Omaha,  or 
wheresoever  the  husband  and  father  might  be,  as  the  guests  of  the 
road,  and  many  went,  and  Rand  wrote  asking  for  "  Connie  and  the 
kids"  to  come  on  and  pay  Mrs.  Rand  a  visit,  but  Connie  wouldn't  go. 
Who  would  take  care  of  daddy?  she  asked,  nestling  her  face  against 
that  veteran's  stubbly  cheek ;  and  Morgan  gave  it  up. 

The  sheriff,  who  had  been  a  frequent  visitor,  quit  coming  out  to 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  221 

the  post,  and  began  to  talk  around  town  about  the  way  the  fort  people 
had  behaved  from  the  start  in  this  robbery  business.  He  would  have 
had  the  robbers  at  the  time,  only  the  cavalry  had  interfered.  He  and 
his  posse  would  have  nabbed  those  fellows  skipping  for  Tomahawk 
Range  if  it  hadn't  been  that  those  d — d  meddlers  of  troopers  drove 
them  beyond  his  jurisdiction.  The  Tomahawk  was  the  name  given 
the  black-fringed  spur  that  came  down  from  the  mountains  west  of 
Wagon  Gap  almost  to  the  valley  of  the  Ska.  It  was  famous  for  bear, 
elk,  and  black-tail  deer,  and  all  its  length,  except  a  few  miles  at  the 
southern  end,  lay  within  the  Sioux  reservation,  and  no  one  could  go 
thither  to  shoot  except  by  previous  arrangement  with  the  agency 
people.  Nevertheless  old  Stearns,  the  recent  victim  of  Sioux  ven 
geance,  had  for  more  than  a  year  kept  a  shooting-box  somewhere  in 
the  mountains,  where  with  his  half-witted  boy  he  lived  a  hermit  life, 
coming  down  to  Minden  very  seldom,  yet  frequently  being  seen  about 
the  agency  at  the  north.  Keen  sportsmen  of  Omaha,  Yankton,  and 
Sioux  City,  it  was  said,  sometimes  made  up  hunting-parties,  and, 
having  properly  and  previously  "  fixed"  the  Sioux  chiefs  through 
agency  interpreters,  went  up  by  way  of  the  Indian  villages  and,  with 
Indian  guides,  had  many  a  day  of  famous  shooting,  and  came  home, 
the  envied  of  their  kind,  with  a  baggage-car-load  of  carcasses  they 
could  not  always  even  give  away.  The  strikes  and  riots  ended,  it 
suddenly  occurred  to  Colonel  Rand  that  he  hadn't  shot  a  bear  in  years, 
so  he  went  up  around  by  the  all-rail  route,  taking  a  couple  of  friends, 
and  such  was  his  enthusiasm  that  he  could  not  hear  enough  about  what 
other  parties  had  been  doing  in  that  line.  Game-laws  did  not  obtain 
on  Indian  lands  in  those  days,  except  such  as  the  Indian  and  his 
keepers  agreed  upon,  and  even  late  in  May,  it  seems,  some  eager  sports 
men  had  come  out  from  the  Missouri  and  gone  into  the  Tomahawk 
Range,  guided  by  a  clerk  in  the  agency  and  "  Lame  Johnny,"  a  half- 
bred  Sioux.  For  a  man  so  interested  at  the  start,  it  must  be  owned 
that  Rand  tired  rather  soon  of  the  sport.  He  left  his  friends  at  the 
agency  after  a  day  or  two  of  desultory  shooting,  and  went  back  to 
head-quarters. 

Then  the  troops  began  to  reappear  at  their  old  station,  as  their 
services  were  no  longer  needed  ;  and  the  August  suns  were  beating  hot 
and  dry  on  the  valley  of  the  Ska ;  and  presently  Old  Tintop  and  the 
Eleventh  were  once  more  restored  to  Ransom,  and  began  the  work  of 
straightening  out  their  quarters  and  stables,  and  the  new  first  lieu- 

19* 


222  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

tenant  of  Troop  D  saluted  his  predecessor,  its  present  captain,  and 
Schraram  blushingly  invited  his  brother  non-commissioned  officers,  all 
who  could  be  spared,  one  evening  after  their  duties  at  the  post  to  meet 
him  at  Conway's  restaurant  in  town,  where  a  bountiful  supper  was 
provided,  and  where  each  man  was  regaled  with  such  drink  as  he  most 
fancied,  and  where  Schramm  in  a  very  effective  little  speech  proposed 
the  health  of  their  new  captain,  which  they  drank  with  cheers,  and 
the  memory  of  their  gallant  comrade  Schultz,  which  they  honored  in 
soldier  silence.  Nothing  like  this  had  happened  in  the  annals  of  the 
regiment.  "  Why,  it  must  have  cost  him  sixty  or  seventy  dollars," 
said  Sergeant  Bowman,  as  they  rode  back  to  the  post  that  night.  One 
of  their  number  in  jocular  mood  thought  it  appropriate  to  ask  Schramm 
had  he  been  "  holding  up"  another  paymaster,  or  was  this  what  was 
left  of  the  last  one?  whereat  Schramm  looked  his  interrogator  full  in 
the  face  a  few  seconds  without  so  much  as  changing  color  or  saying  a 
word,  and  then,  turning  calmly  away,  resumed  his  chat  with  their  first 
sergeant,  who  as  the  senior  guest  at  the  feast  was  placed  at  the  right 
hand  of  their  host.  It  was  evident  that  Schramm  would  have  no 
witticism  on  that  head. 

But  if  Schramm  took  it  in  dignified  silence,  the  sheriff  did  not. 
It  grew  to  be  the  popular  thing  for  the  troopers  just  then  to  hail  this 
magnate  with  the  query,  "  Hullo,  sheriff,  when's  the  trial  coming  off?" 
The  "  boys,"  as  they  sometimes  called  themselves,  had  much  resented 
it  that  the  officials  and  the  public  were  so  ready  to  accept  the  theory 
that  only  members  of  the  Eleventh  Cavalry  could  have  planned  and 
perpetrated  the  deed.  Hence,  as  time  wore  on  and  the  evidence 
against  Schultz  and  Schramm  wore  off  and  the  sheriff  seemed  drifting 
further  from  a  solution  of  the  mystery,  the  boys  took  keener  delight 
in  chaffing  the  civil  authority  on  the  public  streets  and  inspiring  him 
to  mighty  blasphemy  and  portentous  threat. 

"You  fellows  had  better  keep  civil  tongues  in  your  heads,"  said 
he,  with  many  a  lurid  expletive,  the  night  after  the  Schramm  supper. 
"You  may  think  it  d — d  smart  to  chaff  about  this.  Perhaps  you 
soldiers  can  turn  to  now  and  catch  the  fellers  that  ran  off  with  your 
money.  If  it  wasn't  soldiers  that  did  it,  by  — ,  I'll  lay  any  bet  no 
soldier  can  say  who  else  done  it." 

A  week  later,  however,  when  the  story  of  the  sheriff's  wager,  "with 
weeping  and  with  laughter,"  was  being  told  at  Ransom  in  connection 
with  the  liveliest  episode  in  Ransom  annals,  there  fell  from  the  oracu- 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  223 

lar  lips  of  Mrs.  Whaling,  the  relict  of  a  former  commanding  officer 
and  now  a  prominent  figure  in  Btitte  society,  the  memorable  words, 
"  Well,  I  guess  he  wishes  he  hadn't  been  so  precipitous." 


XIV. 

Pay-day  at  the  post !  Old  Curran  had  ordered  an  extra  stand  put 
up  in  the  bar-room,  an  extra  load  of  keg  beer  out  from  Butte,  and  a 
choice  supply  of  cabbageros  for  the  defenders  of  their  country's  flag, 
who  on  these  occasions  deemed  it  their  duty  not  to  be  seen  out  of  ranks 
without  a  weed  in  their  teeth,  no  matter  how  high  in  price  nor  how 
low  in  grade.  The  laundresses,  arrayed  in  their  best  bib  and  tucker 
and  smiles,  had  spread  the  cloth  in  their  shanties  down  under  the  hill, 
with  the  bucket  of  punch  and  dozen  of  tumblers  in  readiness  for 
callers, — it  being  one  of  the  unwritten  laws  of  the  rank  and  file  in 
the  good  old  days  to  square  with  the  laundress  if  you  didn't  square 
with  anybody  else.  The  non-commissioned  staff,  the  band,  and  the 
troops  had  all  been  ordered  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness, — the  one 
function  of  the  military  year  in  which  such  orders  were  totally  un 
necessary,  even  the  sick  in  hospital  manifesting  a  strong  desire  to  get 
iip  and  go  to  duty,  on  that  day  at  least ;  and  Lieutenant  Phipps  with 
twenty  troopers  had  met  Paymaster  Graves  as  he  and  Mr.  Lacy  stepped 
forth  from  No  3,  bustled  them  into  the  waiting  ambulance  and  around 
the  corner  to  the  express-office,  where  they  receipted  for  the  little  iron 
safe,  and  then  at  spanking  trot  set  forth  across  the  prairie  and  were 
deposited  at  the  hospitable  door  of  Old  Tintop,  where  breakfast 
awaited  the  major,  where  his  safe  was  stored  pro  tempore  under  the 
vigilant  eye  of  the  officer  of  the  guard,  while  Mr.  Lacy,  pleading 
previous  engagement,  begged  to  be  excused  and  went  to  take  his  sus 
tenance  under  the  Currans'  roof.  Guard  was  mounted  in  full-dress 
uniform  at  the  usual  hour,  everybody  being  out  for  to  see,  and  Gray 
being  in  his  glory.  Even  more  than  usually  jubilant  and  stirring 
were  the  strains  of  the  band  as,  to  the  rollicking  airs  from  "  Arrah  na 
Pogue,"  the  yellow-crested  column  came  swinging  around  in  review, 
for  it  was  "  Cavalry  Day," — one  of  Tintop's  fads  being  that  it  spoiled 
the  ceremony  and  ruined  the  guard  to  have  foot  and  troopers  march 
on  together.  "  Uniform,  arms,  and  manual  are  all  unlike,"  said  he, 
"  so  what's  the  use  ?  They  no  more  mix  than  oil  and  vinegar :  we're 


224  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

the  oil  and  you're  the  vinegar."  And  so,  being  a  favorite  at  depart 
ment  head-quarters,  the  old  fellow  had  been  sustained  in  his  idea  of 
having  alternate  guard,  cavalry  one  day  and  infantry  the  next, — a 
system  which  worked  in  with  the  "  percentage"  fairly  well  and  which 
the  colonel  pronounced  a  triumphant  success,  "  and  anybody  who  don't 
believe  it  had  better  not  say  so." 

Then,  right  after  guard-mounting,  in  their  full-dress  uniforms, 
with  gloves  and  side-arms,  the  garrison  was  paraded  for  payment. 
Graves  sat  beside  a  table  in  the  administration  room,  big  stacks  of 
greenbacks, — tens,  five,  twos,  and  ones, — and  cylindrical  columns  of 
silver  and  nickel,  in  front  of  him.  Off  to  his  left,  muster-  and  pay 
roll  of  the  first  detachment,  head-quarters  staff,  and  band  open  on  the 
table  before  him,  his  keen  eyes  glancing  about  the  room  and  studying 
every  face,  sat  Lacy.  The  adjutant  took  a  seat  at  another  little  table, 
midway  between  the  paymaster  and  the  door,  with  his  duplicate  roll, 
and,  all  being  ready,  called  the  sergeant-major's  name.  Mr.  Lacy 
called  out  the  amount  due.  The  paymaster  rapidly  counted  out  the 
money  and  handed  it  to  the  soldier  who  stood  attention  in  front  of  the 
desk.  The  staff  and  band  were  speedily  settled  with  and  sent  about 
their  business.  Then  came  the  senior  captain  with  his  company,  a 
change  of  rolls,  and  so  for  three  hours,  without  incident  of  any  kind, 
the  interesting  yet  monotonous  ceremony  went  on.  Not  until  near 
noon  did  it  come  the  turn  of  the  captain  youngest  in  commission  at 
the  post,  and  then  at  last  D  Troop  came  swinging  across  the  parade 
from  their  barracks,  and  gray-haired  Morgan  took  the  little  table  just 
left  vacant  by  Captain  Prime.  The  windows  were  open,  and  a  soft 
air  was  blowing  through,  and  yet  it  seemed  hot  and  oppressive. 

"  This  is  the  last  company,  is  it  ?"  said  Graves.  "  Thank  God ! 
I'm  about  tired  out  now.  All  ready,  captain  ?" 

"  All  ready,  sir,"  answered  Morgan,  and  then  called  "  First  Sergeant 
Warren." 

A  buggy  drove  up  in  front  of  the  office,  and  some  of  the  men 
nudged  one  another.  It  was  the  sheriff  who  alighted,  followed  by 
Colonel  Rand.  Behind  them  came  another,  and  a  deputy  or  two  in 
the  saddle.  D  Troop,  standing  at  ease  along  the  gallery  in  front  of  the 
administration  building  and  from  there  to  the  walk  leading  to  the 
gate,  exchanged  remarks  in  an  undertone  as  to  the  cause  of  this  sudden 
and  suspicious  arrival,  but  no  one  within  the  building  apparently  took 
notice  thereof.  A  long  hall  ran  through  the  building  from  east  to 


SERGEANT  OECESUS.  225 

west.  The  men  entered  the  room  by  the  door  at  the  east  end,  and, 
receiving  their  pay,  passed  out  through  the  other,  and  so  to  the  rear 
porch.  The  paymaster  and  his  clerk  sat  facing  the  door  at  the  east 
ward  end  of  the  big  room,  with  their  backs  to  the  northern  windows, 
and  so  took  no  note  of  a  party  passing  around  on  that  side  of  the 
building.  Several  officers,  clerks,  etc.,  were  grouped  about  the  room 
west  of  the  pay-table,  and  these  were  presently  reinforced  by  the  new 
arrivals, — Rand  entering,  followed  by  the  sheriff  and  others,  but  signal 
ling  to  the  officers  who  greeted  him  to  make  no  unnecessary  to-do.  By 
this  time  Morgan  had  read  down  among  the  names  of  his  corporals. 
Rand,  quietly  suppressing  the  greetings  accorded  him,  made  it  known 
that  he  wished  to  listen  a  moment.  Corporal  Treacy  had  just  picked 
up  his  money,  faced  to  his  left,  and  made  room  for  the  next  man. 
"  Corporal  Hugo  V.  Schramm,"  called  the  captain,  and,  straight  as  an 
arrow,  quick,  lithe,  soldier  all  over,  in  stepped  the  man  of  Slaughter 
Cove,  hand  at  visor  in  salute  as  he  halted.  Lacy  glanced  quickly, 
curiously  up  and  studied  the  clear-cut  face  an  instant  with  his  steely 
blue  eyes,  then  as  quickly  dropped  them.  Graves,  too,  looked  up  in 
mingled  interest  and  embarrassment.  Here  stood  the  soldier  virtually 
branded  by  him  and  his  as  a  robber,  yet  pronounced  by  officers  and 
comrades  a  hero.  Graves  felt  that  his  first  impulse  was  to  hold  forth 
his  hand,  but  it  occurred  to  him  that  that  would  hardly  be  in  accord 
ance  with  military  propriety  and  etiquette.  "  I  should  like  to  see 
you,  corporal,  after  we  finish,"  said  he,  in  a  most  conciliatory  tone. 
Schramm  thrust  his  money  into  the  palm  of  his  left-hand  glove, 
saluted  precisely,  and,  merely  saying,  "  Yes,  sir,"  strode  away  to  the 
west  door,  but  there  his  name  was  called  in  low  tone  and  he  halted. 
An  officer  beckoned  to  him  to  wait,  and,  wondering  not  a  little,  he 
stopped,  then  turned  to  a  vacant  corner  behind  Rand. 

Rapidly  the  list  was  finished,  the  last  man  paid.  The  paymaster 
stretched  his  legs  and  arms  and  looked  around  for  some  one  to  suggest 
an  adjournment  to  the  club-room,  and  the  first  thing  he  saw  was  Rand, 
with  the  sheriff  in  his  trail,  and  Graves's  eyes  began  to  dilate.  Lacy 
was  repacking  coin  and  paper  money  at  the  instant  and  bending  over 
a  leather  satchel  which  he  had  placed  on  his  chair.  A  strange  and 
sudden  silence  had  fallen  upon  the  crowded  room.  Old  Tintop  from 
his  office  across  the  hall,  with  faithful  Gray  at  his  elbow,  came  lounging 
to  the  door,  and,  catching  sight  of  the  civilian  garb,  stopped  short  and 
glared.  Lacy,  just  snapping  the  clasp  of  his  bag,  felt  the  sudden  fall 
K* 


226  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

of  a  muscular  hand  on  his  shoulder,  and,  with  a  perceptibly  violent 
start,  looked  up.  The  bearded  face  of  Colonel  Rand  was  close  at  his 
side,  the  dark  eyes  sternly  fixed  upon  him,  and  Lacy  turned  ashen  and 
his  limbs  began  to  tremble  and  quiver,  despite  his  fiercest  effort,  for 
there  confronting  him  stood  the  sheriff  of  Latimer  County,  a  pair  of 
steel  wristlets  in  his  extended  hands. 


XV. 

The  sensation  caused  by  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Lacy,  the  paragon  of 
paymasters'  clerks,  as  he  had  been  described  in  one  of  his  letters  of 
recommendation,  ended  not  with  the  going  down  of  the  sun  that  day, 
nor  many  thereafter.  Graves  himself  sat  in  a  state  bordering  on 
collapse  for  a  few  hours  after  the  occurrence. 

"  Why,  that  gentleman  was  recommended  by  half  the  Senate,  and 
almost  insisted  on  by  my  bondsmen,"  said  he,  with  tears  in  his  eyes. 
"What  will  they  say  to  me?  Why,  Rand,  he  actually  had  to  be 
named  as  my  clerk  before  I  could  be  confirmed  at  all."  To  which  the 
imperturbable  inspector-general  responded,  "  Yes,  no  doubt.  You  see, 
Graves,  they  had  to  get  him  out  of  Washington  :  he  knew  too  much;" 
and  when  Graves  besought  him  to  say  why  he  suspected  the  paragon, 
Rand  serenely  answered  he  didn't :  he  had  suspected  him  a  month 
ago,  perhaps,  but  now  he  knew:  so  should  everybody  else  just  as  soon 
as  the  case  could  be  brought  to  trial.  But  meantime  other  entertain 
ment  was  provided  for  the  cavalry.  .Even  while  Lacy  was  frantically 
sending  telegrams  and  letters  to  officials  of  high  degree  all  over  the 
East,  demanding  investigation,  vindication,  etc.,  there  came  an  order  for 
the  immediate  detachment  of  three  of  Tintop's  companies  to  take  the 
field  far  to  the  northwest.  D  Troop  went  as  a  matter  of  course.  This 
time  Schramm  did  riot  have  to  ask  "to  go  along  mit  dem  fellers."  It 
was  their  veteran  captain  who  was  left  behind. 

Just  as  Perry  Thornton  had  told  his  father,  the  men  of  the  troop, 
thankful  for,  yet  declining,  the  proffered  subscription  of  the  officers, 
had  ordered  from  tho  East  as  handsome  an  outfit  of  belt,  helmet,  spurs, 
shoulder-  and  sabre-knots,  as  money  could  buy,  Connie  alone  of  the 
household  being  in  the  secret.  Her  father  never  again  had  asked  to 
see  Thornton's  letter,  and  she,  who  once  had  been  so  insistent,  ceased 
all  mention  of  it  or  of  its  writer.  The  glow  of  delight  with  which 


SERGEANT  CRCE8US.  227 

the  child  tat!  received  err!  rec,d  that  jolly,  warm-hearted,  yet  utterly 
unsentimental  note  had  opened  the  father's  eyes  no  more  than  it  had 
her  own.  Constance  Morgan  stepped  from  girl-  to  womanhood  in  the 
day  and  hour  which  taught  her  how,  little  by  little,  there  had  been 
kindled  in  her  heart  a  tiny  flame  of  tenderness  that  burned  as  incense 
at  the  altar, — an  offering  at  the  shrine  wherein  the  boy  sat  installed, 
the  hero  of  a  girl's  imaginative  and  impulsive  nature.  With  what 
burning  cheeks  did  she  own  it  to  herself!  With  what  womanly  shame 
did  she  realize  that  she  had  betrayed  it  ere  she  herself  fairly  knew  of 
its  existence  !  She ! — an  army  girl,  a  soldier's  daughter,  with  Lot  and 
Billy  to  look  after,  with  dear  old  daddy  to  nurse  and  comfort, — she, 
Constance  Morgan,  daring  to  indulge  in  idle  day-dreaming  over  a  boy 
in  his  first  uniform  !  It  was  simply  shameful.  She  could  have  scratched 
the  eyes  out  of  any  woman  who  saw  her  poring  over  that  letter,  had 
there  been  any  there  to  see.  She  raged  within  herself  to  think  that 
for  that  moment  she  had  been  blind  and  deaf  to  her  father's  presence 
and  lost  in  reading  Thornton's  laughing  words.  No  one  on  earth  ever 
knew  what  pangs  of  maidenly  wrath  and  shame  "  Little  Mother" 
endured  for  several  days,  but  whenever  after  that  initial  exhibition 
Morgan  looked  for  further  symptom  of  sentimental  regard  for  the 
absent  lieutenant,  he  failed  entirely,  and  wished  that  he  might  write 
himself  an  ass  for  ever  having  believed  it. 

The  presentation  came  off  at  the  assembly-room  one  lovely  evening 
in  July,  Sergeant  Jeifers  being  spokesman  for  the  troop  and  utterly 
routing  Morgan,  who  knew  not  how  to  formulate  reply  to  words  so 
rich  with  soldierly  trust  and  affection.  Close  behind  the  speaker 
stood  Corporal  Schramm,  his  glistening  eyes  fixed  on  Connie's  beau 
tiful,  blushing  face,  with  its  swimming  eyes,  for  Jeffers's  voice  was 
tremulous  when  he  went  on  to  say  how  for  ten  long  years  the  old 
hands  had  soldiered  under  Morgan  and  never  once  could  recall  a  harsh 
or  an  unjust  word,  never  once  a  day  when  his  voice  or  heart  or  hand 
had  failed  them  when  they  looked  to  him  for  leadership  or  aid.  The 
old  fellow  was  worn  and  ill  and  heavily  laden,  and  this  unlooked-for 
tribute  from  his  men  completely  floored  him.  "  Why,  men,"  he  stam 
mered,  "  I — always  stood  by  you  as  a  matter  of  course.  I  never 
dreamed  of  doing  anything  else.  What's  an  officer  for,  if  it  isn't  to 
be  a  friend  and  leader  to  his  own  troop  first  of  all  ?  I'm  more  obliged 
to  you  than  you  can  imagine.  This  isn't  strictly  according  to  law  and 
regulations,  I  am  afraid,  and  if  I'd  got  wind  of  it  in  any  way  before,  I 


228  SERGEANT  CRCESVS. 

should  have  stopped  it ;  but  precedents  seem  to  be  plenty  of  late,  and  I 
only  wish  I  might  think  it  would  be  my  luck  to  wear  them  as  your 
captain  for  years  to  come,  but  your  old  lieutenant  makes  an  older 
captain,  and  I'm  soon  to  step  aside  for  a  younger  soldier  and  better 
man ;  but  so  long  as  I  live,  men,  this  gift  of  yours  and  these  words  of 
Jeffers's  will — will God  bless  you  all,  lads,  I  can't  finish  it." 

And  then  the  men  in  their  full-dress  uniforms  had  escorted  their 
captain  and  Connie  and  the  invited  guests  homeward  that  night,  and 
the  first  thing  when  father  and  daughter  were  left  alone  old  Morgan 
turned  to  Connie. 

"  So  that  was  what  Thornton's  letter  was  about,  was  it,  Connie  ?" 

"  Certainly,  father,"  she  replied,  looking  straight  into  his  eyes  with 
those  clear  brown  orbs  of  hers.  "  What  else  could  it  have  been  ?" 
And  that  was  the  last  mentioned  of  the  subject  between  them. 

Each  and  every  one,  the  men  had  shaken  hands  with  their  captain 
and  pledged  his  health  in  the  foaming  beer  old  Curran  had  insisted  on 
"setting  up"  for  the  occasion.  They  swore,  soldier-like,  they'd  never 
let  the  captain  retire;  but  that  was  a  matter  beyond  their  jurisdiction. 
Wind  and  weather  and  many  a  worry  laid  the  veteran  by  the  heels, 
and  his  old  enemy,  rheumatism,  took  fresh  and  forcible  hold.  When 
D  Troop  rode  away  to  take  the  field,  poor  Morgan  was  groaning  both 
in  flesh  and  spirit,  and  when  late  that  autumn  Schramm  came  posting 
homeward  under  subpoena  to  testify  in  re  The  People  vs.  Lacy,  the 
chevrons  of  a  sergeant  decked  his  sleeves  in  recognition  of  a  ride  of 
over  a  hundred  miles  through  Indian-haunted  wilds  to  bear  despatches 
to  a  distant  command,  but  neither  captain  nor  Connie  was  there  to  bid 
him  welcome.  The  lonely  grave  out  on  the  prairie  lacked  the  bunch 
of  wild  flowers  which  formerly  decked  it  every  Sunday  morning.  The 
old  quarters  down  the  row  were  peopled  by  strangers  to  the  German 
soldier  now.  The  sweet  face  of  the  gnadige  Friiulein  smiled  no  more 
from  the  dormer  window  over  the  veranda :  the  Morgans,  one  and  all, 
were  gone.  A  retiring  board  had  pronounced  the  old  dragoon  unfit 
for  further  service,  and  with  his  own  fuel  and  quarters  to  furnish  now 
as  best  he  could,  with  no  more  medical  attendance  or  supplies  from 
Uncle  Sam,  with  all  the  brood  to  feed  and  clothe  and  educate,  without 
a  word  of  aid  or  welcome  from  the  kinsfolk  in  the  East,  poor  Morgan 
meekly  took  his  discharge  and  his  retired  pay,  and  a  tiny  two-storied 
cottage  in  an  out-of-the-way  street  in  Butte,  and  strove  to  set  up 
housekeeping  with  Connie  at  the  head  and  a  Chinese  man-of-all-work 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  229 

at  the  foot  of  the  new  establishment.  Rand  had  been  to  see  them 
and  urged  their  all  coming  eastward  awhile  as  his  guests  at  home, 
but  the  railroad  company  had  offered  Morgan  a  little  berth  which  he 
considered  it  his  duty  to  accept  at  once,  and  Connie  scouted  the  idea 
of  her  being  in  need  of  rest  or  change ;  she  could  not  think  of  leaving 
father ;  and  within  the  month  it  seemed  as  though  her  vision  were 
preternaturally  clear,  for  presently  poor  Morgan  could  not  leave  the 
house  at  all.  It  was  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  that  as  Connie, 
broom  in  hand,  and  an  old  silk  handkerchief  over  her  head,  was 
sweeping  out  the  hall  one  sharp  October  morning,  the  Chinaman 
having  been  discharged  as  the  result  of  a  strike  for  more  wages  and 
less  work,  she  sent  a  whirl  of  dust  upon  the  glistening  boots  of  a 
statuesque  trooper  with  hand  at  salute  and  blue  eyes  beaming  in  delight 
at  sight  of  his  friend  the  captain's  daughter. 

"  Oh,  Schr-r-r-amm !"  she  cried,  throwing  down  her  besom  and 
joyously  grasping  his  gauntleted  hand.  "  Where  did  you  come  from? 
Come  right  in ;  papa  will  be  so  glad ! — Here's  Schramm — Sergeant 
Schramrn,  daddy  dear;"  and,  first  closing  the  outer  door,  she  opened 
that  which  led  to  the  Den,  and  ushered  the  sergeant  in  and  watched 
with  glistening  eyes  the  greeting  of  the  two  soldiers.  Schramm  must 
stay  and  take  luncheon  with  them.  "  We  are  no  longer  on  duty,  lad," 
said  Morgan,  with  a  sad  smile,  "  and  if  you'll  have  a  bite  with  us  and 
tell  us  all  about  the  old  troop  it'll  be  a  comfort."  And  Connie's  eyes 
and  lips  were  even  more  insistent.  Off  came  the  blue  overcoat,  and 
there  in  all  the  glossy  sheen  of  the  new,  snug-fitting  blouse,  with  the 
triple  bars  of  his  sergeant's  chevrons,  the  athletic  frame  of  their  sol 
dier  guest  stood  revealed,  and  they  made  him  sit,  and  Connie  poured 
his  tea  and  bustled  in  and  out  of  the  kitchen,  and  Schramm  sat  with 
his  old  captain  and  talked  by  the  hour  of  the  troop,  and  how  well 
Jeffers  held  his  own  now  as  first  sergeant,  and  what  a  fine  soldier 
Treacy  was,  and  yet — he  did  not  say  how  or  why,  but  fast  as  their 
term  of  service  expired  the  old  hands  took  their  discharge,  and  then 
"took  on"  in  some  other  troop.  And  all  the  time  he  talked,  whenso 
ever  she  flitted  in  or  out  or  by,  the  blue  eyes  would  follow  and  were 
full  of  light  and  reverence  and  watchful  care.  It  was  as  he  walked 
slowly  away,  two  hours  later,  eagerly  promising  to  come  again,  that 
those  same  blue  eyes  were  clouded  with  deep  anxiety, — Morgan  was 
failing  so  fast. 

The  trial,  he  told  them,  was  to  begin  forthwith ;  but  it  never  did. 

20 


230  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

In  some  of  Lacy's  appealing  letters  to  former  employers  in  official 
station  in  Washington  reference  was  made  to  the  malignant  hatred 
of  Colonel  Rand  as  the  inspiration  of  all  their  proofless  and  damnable 
accusations,  and  these  getting  to  the  War  Department  and  so  coming 
to  Rand  for  remark,  the  placid  colonel  finally  waxed  indignant.  It 
was  bad  enough,  said  he,  that  Lacy  should  be  an  expert  thief  and 
blackleg,  but  that  to  cover  his  own  tracks  and  those  of  his  pals  he 
should  seek  the  ruin  of  innocent  men  was  rather  too  much  of  a  good 
thing.  Then  the  general  came  back  from  the  field  about  this  time; 
Rand  made  his  report,  and  on  went  a  four-page  letter  to  Washing 
ton  reciting  briefly  the  evidence  now  in  their  possession  as  affecting 
Lacy.  This  was  shown  to  the  ex-clerk's  friends  at  court,  and  two 
letters  from  the  East,  after  being  opened  and  examined  by  the  sheriff, 
were  handed  in  to  Lacy's  cell  the  day  after  Schramm's  arrival.  That 
night  the  prisoner  asked  for  more  paper  and  permission  to  write  till 
late,  and  when  morning  came  the  neatly-folded  document  proved  to  be 
the  final  statements  of  the  clerk  who  had  cashed  so  many  papers  of  that 
name  within  the  past  year — but  would  cash  no  more.  What  was  left 
of  Lacy  lay  stiffening  on  the  narrow  cot.  The  night-watch  had  not 
even  heard  him  groan. 

A  fellow  of  much  inventive  genius  was  Lacy,  and  of  uncommon 
usefulness  until  luck  turned.  Cards,  mining  stocks,  wheat,  wine,  and 
women  all  combined  against  him.  He  had  to  cover  the  money  ab 
stracted  to  pay  his  losses  and  put  up  more  margins.  He  owed  still 
more,  and  his  creditors,  gamblers  like  himself,  said,  "  Pay  or  we  peach." 
There  was  just  one  way  to  "  raise  the  wind"  without  reaping  the  whirl 
wind  :  the  paymaster  must  be  robbed  on  the  very  next  trip ;  and  the 
plan  was  to  have  the  train  "  held  up,"  until  the  sudden  move  of  the 
cavalry  suggested  an  easier  way.  Out  went  two  of  his  sportsmen 
friends  with  letters  of  introduction  to  the  hunter  hermit  in  the  Toma 
hawk  Range.  Down  they  went  with  him  as  their  guide  and  com 
panion  and  scout.  Cavalry  overcoats  and  slouch-hats  and  equipments 
such  as  were  worn  in  the  field  in  those  days  were  to  be  had  almost 
anywhere.  Armed  with  their  bogus  despatch,  they  rode  to  Minden, 
dodging  Sergeant  Dolan's  escort  from  Bear  Fork  to  Alkali.  Leaving 
their  horses  with  the  boy  at  the  bridge,  the  three  men  received  the 
paymaster  and  Lacy  at  the  station  to  which  he  had  been  lured,  and 
the  rest  was  easy  until  it  came  to  getting  away  with  the  money.  The 
hermit  forbade  their  returning  by  way  of  his  hut,  as  they  would  be 


SERGEANT  QRCESUS.  231 

trailed  thither  and  he  and  his  boy  instantly  suspected.  They  must  go 
farther  east,  by  way  of  Wagon  Gap,  and  back  to  the  agency  with  their 
game,  as  though  from  innocent  and  successful  hunt.  But,  in  dodging  the 
troops  and  certain  couriers  they  saw,  time  was  lost,  in  which  they  got 
to  drinking  and  quarrelling.  Lacy's  friends  were  two  well-known 
contractors  for  Indian  supplies,  long  accustomed  to  agency  ways,  well 
versed  in  Indian  affairs,  and  often  suspected  of  being  knaves  of  deeper 
dye  than  mere  swindlers  of  the  aborigines,*  which  species  of  crime  was 
not  bereft  of  virtue  in  frontier  eyes.  They  were  known  to  the  trade 
by  the  names  of  Stein  and  Wirtz,  and  their  intimacy  with  Lacy  and 
certain  employees  of  the  quartermaster  department  had  attracted  Rand's 
attention  to  them  months  before  the  robbery.  Hearing  of  their  ab 
sence  from  town,  he  traced  them  to  the  agency,  thence  to  the  range 
beyond,  and  found  that  the  date  of  their  return  that  way  corresponded 
exactly  with  that  of  Thornton's  fight.  Young  Stearns  had  at  last 
made  a  coherent  statement.  Promising  to  give  his  luckless  father  his 
share  as  soon  as  they  got  back  within  sight  of  that  harbor  of  refuge, 
but  plying  him  with  liquor  all  the  time,  these  men  rode  to  Fossil 
Creek  in  company,  then  gave  their  dozing  guide  the  slip  and  dashed 
rapidly  ahead.  Being  aware  of  the  Indian  outbreak,  they  probably 
studied  the  country  with  their  glasses  and  saw  the  commotion  among 
the  distant  war-parties,  and  so  dodged  into  the  range  away  from  the 
road,  and  by  a  wide  detour  got  safely  in,  while  their  hapless  guide, 
following  in  drunken  pursuit,  ran  foul  of  the  Sioux,  was  chased  and 
killed.  Wisely  they  hid  such  of  the  money  as  they  did  not  need  at 
the  moment,  and  kept  away  from  head-quarters  and  Lacy  awhile, 
until  the  announcement  in  the  papers  that  the  crime  had  been  definitely 
fixed  on  the  soldiers  Schultz  and  Schramm  gave  them  courage  to  un 
earth  their  plunder  and  fetch  it  nearer  home.  Not  that  they  intended 
to  divide  with  Lacy  by  any  means, — he  was  in  their  toils  now,  and 
could  be  further  bled, — but  to  hold  him  with  mingled  threat  and 
promise.  And  all  the  time  Rand  was  weaving  his  web  about  them. 
The  more  coherent  statements  of  the  half-witted  son,  now  being  grad 
ually  restored  to  such  intellect  as  he  possessed,  had  given  ample  clue, 
and  the  arrest  of  Lacy  at  Ransom  was  the  result  of  a  despatch  to 
Rand  that  his  confederates  had  been  pounced  upon  the  previous  night 
at  Yankton  with  over  ten  thousand  dollars  of  the  stolen  money  in 
their  possession.  So  long  as  they  did  not  peach,  however,  Lacy  was 
still  safe,  and  he  played  the  indignant  and  wronged  and  faithful 


232  SERGEANT  CR(ESUS. 

servant,  and  played  it  well,  for  just  six  weeks;  then  "Dux  femina 
facti" — the  woman  who  was  leader — by  the  nose — of  the  triumvirate, 
and  the  recipient  of  much  of  their  stolen  plunder,  was  also  arrested 
when  on  the  wing  to  the  East,  and — she  couldn't  keep  a  secret;  her 
circumstantial  confession  of  the  whole  business  from  beginning  to  end, 
made  when  hoping  to  win  exemption  for  herself,  ended  the  battle. 
Then  Lacy's  own  hand  penned  his  parting  words  and  freed  his  shame- 
stricken  soul. 

"  It  was  a  well-planned  job,"  said  Rand,  "  on  Lacy's  part  at  least, 
but  it  had  its  leak  so  long  as  there  was  a  woman  in  it." 

And  now,  as  his  evidence  was  no  longer  needed,  Sergeant  Schramm 
had  no  further  business  at  either  Butte  or  Ransom.  "  But  you  don't 
want  to  go  back  that  long  distance  alone,"  said  Old  Tintop.  "  We  can 
assign  you  to  duty  here  until  your  troop  comes  home  next  month." 
And,  to  the  adjutant's  infinite  surprise,  Schramm  eagerly  assented. 

October  went,  and  keener  winds  from  the  mountain-gorges  and 
fiercer  twinges  in  Morgan's  legs  reminded  them  that  winter  was  at 
hand.  Often  now  the  post  surgeon  found  means  to  ride  over  to  Butte 
and  see  the  failing  soldier,  and  many  a  day  officers  or  their  wives  con 
trived  to  visit  town  and  dropped  in  to  see  Connie  and  offer  aid  and 
comfort  to  her  father,  but  Connie  declared  she  needed  no  help.  She 
had  an  excellent  servant  now,  a  German  woman  whom  Mrs.  Hinkel 
brought  to  her,  who  cooked  and  washed  and  did  almost  everything  for 
so  small  a  sum  that  when  the  amount  was  mentioned  I  fear  me 
there  were  women  who  were  sorely  tempted  to  offer  the  paragon  twice 
as  much  to  quit  the  Morgans  and  come  to  them,  but  they  deserved 
the  more  honor  that  they  promptly  dismissed  the  unworthy  thought. 
Connie  said  Mrs.  Hinkel,  too,  was  kind  and  useful  in  making  things 
for  the  children,  and  Miss  Franzen  of  the  public  school,  who  lived  in 
the  next  block,  took  such  interest  in  Lot  and  Billy  and  taught  them 
so  much.  Why,  they  would  really  be  in  clover,  were  poor  father  only 
better.  And  then  one  evening  when  Schramm  had  ridden  into  town 
and  left  his  horse  at  the  Empire  and  had  come  promptly  around  to  see 
the  Herr  Rittrneister,  he  was  amazed  to  find  a  tall,  gray-moustached, 
soldierly  man  seated  by  the  captain's  side,  while  there — right  by  Connie 
— in  civilian  dress  stood  a  tall,  slender  young  fellow  at  sight  of  whom 
the  sergeant's  eyes  clouded,  and  he  would  have  retired,  but  was  too  late, 
for  with  one  leap  Perry  Thornton  had  him  by  the  hand. 

"Schramm,  by  all  that's  glorious!      Father,  look  here!"     And 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  233 

before  the  Prussian  ex-hussar  could  realize  it,  a  veteran  colonel  of 
dragoons  was  wringing  one  of  his  hands,  while  the  lieutenant  clasped 
the  other.  Nor  would  they  or  the  Morgans  let  him  go. 

"I  have  a  letter  from  Berlin  which  I  am  charged  to  give  you, 
Herr  von  Rhetz,"  said  Thornton  ptre,  and  at  the  name  Schramm's  lips 
quivered  and  twitched  and  he  turned  very  white,  but  straight  in  the 
colonel's  kindly  face  looked  the  unflinching  eyes  of  blue. 

Yet  even  then  he  would  have  asked  to  be  permitted  to  retire, — 
the  soldier  in  him  shrinking  from  what  he  deemed  intrusion,  and  a 
strange  restless  gnawing  at  his  heart  impelling  him  to  go  and  leave 
them  to  the  joy  of  a  reunion  in  which  no  doubt  he  had  really  no 
place, — but,  one  and  all,  they  forbade.  Constance  held  in  her  hands 
two  cabinet  photographs,  and  Perry  stepped  forward,  took  one  of  these, 
and,  holding  it  forth,  said  to  Schramm, — 

"  If  you  need  more  reason,  sergeant,  here  it  is,  for  this  is  the  picture 
of  a  young  lady  who  says  she  must  have  yours,  and  quickly  too." 

"  The  young  lady  is  most  gracious,  Herr  Lieutenant, — and  most 
beautiful,"  said  Schramm,  studying  it  attentively ;  then,  glancing  up, 
"The  lieutenant's  sister?" 

"Not  quite,"  laughed  Perry,  blushing,  "though  that's  what  my 
sisters  are  beginning  to  call  her — rather  prematurely." 

And  then  in  his  perplexity  Schramm  gazed  past  the  handsome  boy 
and  sought  Connie's  face.  It  was  beaming.  "  Pardon,"  he  said,  "  I 
am  so  dull.  Does  the  lieutenant  mean  it  is  his  betrothed  ?" 

"  Yes,  and  we  are  here  to  drink  her  health, — we  five." 

For  one  moment  Schramm's  eyes  sought  doubtfully  the  eyes  of  the 
maiden  who  stood  there  so  unflinchingly  and  smilingly  before  them, 
and  then  his  hand  went  out  in  earnest. 


XVI. 

A  winter  of  unusual  severity  was  that  which  followed  upon  the 
heels  of  a  summer  campaign  that  had  been  full  of  lively  excitement 
for  Tintop  and  the  regiment.  Once  more,  however,  the  spirit  of 
social  gayety  was  abroad,  and  the  Christmas  holidays  were  merry  with 
many  a  charming  function.  Hops,  germans,  dinners  and  luncheon- 
parties,  theatricals,  minstrels,  and  soldier  balls,  day  after  day  and 
night  after  night,  were  in  full  career  at  Ransom,  while  dense  and 

20* 


234  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

blinding  snow-storms  blocked  the  roads  and  soon  succeeded  in  making 
the  trip  from  fort  to  town  more  of  a  venture  than  the  winter  passage 
of  the  Atlantic.  Starting  from  town  with  sunshine  and  sleigh-bells, 
one  might  encounter  storm  and  tempest  before  half  the  distance  was 
traversed.  December,  though  sharply  cold,  had  been  bright  and 
beautiful  until  about  the  15th;  then  came  the  succession  of  blizzards 
that  cut  communication  almost  entirely  and  caused  a  wail  of  dismay 
from  the  shopkeepers  of  Butte,  most  of  whom  had  laid  in  goodly 
store  of  toys  and  trinkets  for  the  delectation  of  their  best  customers, 
the  people  out  at  the  fort.  The  stage  had  to  be  taken  off,  and  for  days 
the  mails  were  carried  to  and  fro  in  saddle.  The  doctors,  senior  and 
junior,  found  plenty  to  do  at  the  fort  and  little  to  tempt  them  else 
where,  so  their  visits  to  Morgan  became  infrequent.  There  was  just 
one  man  at  the  post  whom  no  gale  could  daunt,  no  storm  could  con 
quer,  and  that  was  Schramm. 

Every  one  knew  that  Morgan  was  slowly  growing  feebler.  "  He 
ought  to  have  gone  to  the  Hot  Springs  long  ago,"  said  the  doctor, 
"  but  now  it  is  too  late."  He  could  not  stand  the  journey  without 
special  attendants  and  accommodations,  and  those  were  things  he  could 
not,  and  Uncle  Sam  would  not,  pay  for.  Knowing  that  he  would  have 
nothing  to  leave,  and  deeming  him  near  dissolution,  his  creditors  were 
hounding  him  again.  If  he  lived,  the  fifty  dollars  per  month  would 
gradually  pay  them  off,  but  if  he  died  there  was  nothing :  hence  the 
renewed  clamor  for  immediate  settlement.  The  weather  was  bitter, 
the  little  house  cold  and  draughty,  fuel  was  horribly  expensive,  and 
there  was  the  veteran  dragoon,  a  helpless  cripple,  looking  death  in  the 
face  and  imploring  him  yet  a  little  while  to  hold  his  hand,  not  that  the 
broken-spirited  soldier  might  recover  his  strength, — he  was  past  all 
that, — but  that  he  might  linger  on  even  in  labor  and  sorrow,  that  with 
his  annuity  he  might  save  his  children  from  utter  destitution.  Hours 
he  sat  in  loneliness,  for  it  was  impossible,  save  at  rare  intervals,  for  his 
old  comrades  to  reach  him  now.  He  wondered  how  Connie  could  sing 
so  happily  about  the  house.  Surely  she  and  Bertha,  the  middle-aged 
maid-of-all-work,  had  accomplished  wonders  with  the  little  sum  he 
could  devote  to  household  expenses.  Lot  and  Billy  looked  hearty 
and  rosy  and  well  fed  and  clothed  when  they  came  tumbling  noisily  in 
from  school.  Connie's  sweet  face  and  slender  form  were  rounder.  The 
dark  circles  under  the  big  brown  eyes  were  gone.  Here  he  was,  hardly 
daring  to  eat,  thinking  how  soon  they  might  be  left  without  bite,  sup, 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  235 

or  cent.  Yet  Connie  smiled  and  sang,  and  was  picking  up  little  house 
hold  words  and  phrases  in  German,  and  blushingly  accosted  Schramm 
in  his  native  tongue  when  Schramm  came,  as  he  rarely  failed  to  come, 
twice,  thrice,  or  ofteuer  during  the  week,  to  pay  his  respects  to  the 
gnadige  Fraulein,  and  to  see  what  he  could  do  for  the  Herr  Rittmeister, 
who,  ever  since  the  day  of  the  Thorntons'  coming,  had  vainly  protested 
against  the  further  use  of  the  name  Schramm,  had  insisted  that  the  time 
had  come  for  the  German  sergeant  to  drop  his  punctilious  observance 
of  the  deference  due  all  superior  officers,  and  had  informed  Connie  that 
he  should  be  addressed  as  Herr  von  Rhetz ;  but  it  was  all  to  no  purpose. 
Schramm  forbade.  u  I  left  my  name  with  my  past  when  I  came  to 
enlist  in  this  army,"  said  he.  "  I  had  to  win  a  future  for  myself,  and 
so  took  my  mother's  name  meantime.  Call  me  by  that  so  long  as  I 
wear  the  blue."  Indeed,  he  couldn't  bear  to  have  the  gnadige  Fraulein 
address  him  as  "  sergeant"  at  all.  He  said  that  from  the  first  he  loved 
to  watch  her  lips  as  she  struggled  with  the  combination  that  finally 
gave  utterance  to  a  Sch-r-r-ramm.  There  could  be  no  question  that  he 
loved  to  watch  her  lips,  no  matter  what  she  might  be  saying,  and  small 
blame  to  him  either. 

But  out  at  Ransom  Schramm  was  becoming  a  notability  in  earnest. 
Despite  his  plea  to  Colonel  Thornton  to  keep  secret  as  yet  the  story  of 
his  difference  with  his  stern  old  father,  his  retirement  from  the  German 
service,  his  practical  banishment  from  home,  and  then  the  proffered 
forgiveness  and  reconciliation,  there  were  so  many  suspicions  that  the 
Thorntons  were  plied  with  questions  they  could  not  altogether  dodge. 
Every  one  knew  by  this  time  Schramm  had  money  in  plenty,  and  that 
it  was  deposited  in  a  German  bank  in  the  East.  "  Yes,"  said  Thorn 
ton,  "  that  was  his  mother's  fortune,  which  had  become  his  own ;"  but 
the  colonel  refused  to  tell  more,  saying  the  soldier  had  a  perfect  right 
to  serve  out  his  time  as  Schramm  and  nothing  else.  Everybody  saw, 
however,  the  courtesy  and  distinction  with  which  the  Thorntons,  father 
and  son,  treated  him, — Perry,  in  fact,  waxing  hot  and  wanting  to 
fight  an  ill-conditioned,  cross-grained  subaltern  who  sneered  at  him. 
Schramm's  box  was  kept  in  the  vault  of  the  First  National  now, 
where  the  cashier  and  other  officials  would  fain  have  treated  him  with 
greater  deference  than  they  showed  his  officers,  had  Schramm  per 
mitted  it.  He  would  never  enter  the  bank  when  an  officer  was  there, 
and  should  one  happen  in,  even  the  veriest  cub  in  the  whole  garrison, 
Schramm  would  spring  back  from  the  counter  and  stand  attention  and 


236  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

at  salute,  never  presuming  to  come  forward  again  until  the  shoulder- 
straps  had  vanished.  This  naturally  gave  umbrage  to  the  public, 
which,  very  properly,  preferred  moneyed  sergeants  to  mortgaged  subs, 
but  no  one  at  the  post  could  truthfully  say  that  Schramm  ever  in  the 
faintest  way  failed  in  the  respect  and  deference  due  his  superiors  in  grade. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  were  those  who  saw  that  Schramm's  new 
captain  was  taking  frequent  opportunity  to  treat  the  young  German 
with  scant  courtesy ;  it  was  apparent  from  the  moment  of  the  return 
of  the  troop  from  the  field.  They  had  already  begun  the  homeward 
march  when  Schramm  was  ordered  by  Tintop  to  await  their  return  to 
head-quarters,  but  Captain  Bragg  declared  that  Schramm  had  shirked 
his  duty  with  the  troop.  The  medal  of  honor  awarded  him  was  pre 
sented  by  Tintop  and  pinned  on  Schramm's  breast  in  presence  of  the 
whole  command,  and  Bragg  sneered  at  the  colonel's  commendatory 
remarks,  and  sneered  again  in  Thornton's  presence  as  the  troop 
marched  in  from  parade.  Perry  was  already  disgusted  with  having  to 
serve  longer  in  D  Troop,  but  no  transfer  could  be  obtained.  Schramm's 
duties  in  barracks  and  stables  were  most  scrupulously  performed,  but 
never  to  the  extent  of  winning  expression  of  satisfaction  from  Bragg. 
Schramm  rarely  asked  to  be  excused  from  duty,  but  often  put  in  for  a 
pass  to  go  to  town.  There  was  no  good  reason  for  refusing  so  good  a 
man,  so  Bragg  growled  and  grumbled,  and  finally  said  he  couldn't 
have  his  horses  ridden  all  over  creation,  and  Schramm  must  walk 
thereafter  or  hire  a  coach-and-four.  Schramm  never  by  word  or  sign 
showed  irritation.  He  received  the  blunt,  ill-natured  reply  with  silent 
salute.  He  hired  Curran's  buggy,  and  then,  an  evening  or  two  there 
after,  just  before  stables,  came  loping  back  from  Butte  on  a  splendid 
bay,  Lieutenant  Edwards's  favorite  horse,  which  that  officer  had  vainly 
asked  three  hundred  for  when  he  needed  money  to  go  East  on  sick- 
leave,  and  failing  to  obtain  his  price  had  sent  him  to  the  Empire  stables 
in  town.  Schramm,  it  transpired,  had  bought  the  entire  "  outfit," 
equipments  and  all,  but  had  the  bridle  and  housings  stored  and  re 
placed  by  modest  black  leather  and  dark  blue  blanket.  Bragg  forbade 
his  keeping  the  horse  in  the  troop  stables,  and  Schramm,  flushing 
slightly,  replied,  with  the  utmost  self-command  and  respect,  that  he 
could  not  presume  to  think  of  such  a  thing.  Mr.  Curran  had  kindly 
consented  to  take  charge  of  his  horse  in  his  private  stable,  where 
Schramm,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  paid  roundly  for  forage  and  groom 
ing.  Then  it  next  transpired  that  Schramm  had  named  his  new  ac- 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  237 

quisition  "Rand,"  and,  as  Rand  in  his  capacity  as  inspector-general 
had  frequently  rapped  Bragg  over  the  knuckles,  this  gave  greater 
offence  to  Bragg.  Then  a  famous  opera-company,  crossing  the  con 
tinent,  struck  a  blizzard  and  were  snow-bound  in  a  special  car  at  Butte. 
There  was  a  big  hall  with  a  fair-sized  stage  in  town.  The  owner  urged 
a  performance,  and  the  manager  agreed  to  give  "  Faust"  on  a  guarantee 
that  took  the  owner's  breath  away.  He  braved  the  drifts,  however, 
and  galloped  out  to  the  fort  and  told  his  story.  "  Go  ahead,"  said 
Tintop.  "  You  shall  have  the  band,  and  we'll  all  take  seats."  But 
when  he  heard  the  price,  Tintop  retracted.  "  We  can't  stand  the 
figure — that  is,  I  can't,  and  few  of  my  officers  can."  Nevertheless  the 
owner  found  means  to  give  the  front  row  of  the  gallery,  all  around,  at 
a  reduced  rate,  and  there  the  fort  contingent  looked  down  on  the  two- 
dollar  seats  in  the  so-called  parquet,  and  just  before  the  overture  began 
in  marched  forty  sergeants,  cavalry,  infantry,  and  staff,  from  Ransom, 
each  man  in  his  nattiest  dress  uniform,  and  took  possession  of  the  rows 
of  chairs  reserved  for  them,  and  after  the  opera  was  over  did  these 
non-commissioned  officers  adjourn  to  Conway's,  where  another  bountiful 
supper  was  spread  in  his  big  room,  and  then  back  to  the  fort  in  the 
dawn  of  the  frosty  morning  to  the  tune  of  soldier  songs  and  merry 
sleigh-bells.  "  Schramm's  stag-party"  was  the  talk  of  the  post  for  a 
week  thereafter.  Bragg  thought  it  an  outrage  that  enlisted  men  should 
be  allowed  to  sit  in  public  entertainment  in  presence  of  their  betters. 
Tintop,  on  the  contrary,  said  he  was  proud  to  see  so  many  of  his  men 
intelligent,  soldierly,  and  so  thoroughly  capable  of  appreciating  such 
music  and  such  a  company.  As  for  the  opera  people  and  the  local 
manager,  they  were  enraptured.  Connie,  you  may  be  sure,  was  there 
to  see.  She  and  her  friend  Miss  Franzen  had  been  brought  thither 
and  taken  home  in  a  carriage  from  the  Empire,  and  invited  and 
escorted  by  the  principal  of  the  public  school,  to  whom,  it  transpired 
later,  tickets  as  well  as  instructions  had  been  sent  beforehand,  and  it 
was  just  about  this  time,  just  before  Christmas,  that  somebody  started 
the  new  name  for  the  blue-eyed  Prussian,  and  Schramm,  to  his  manifest 
concern,  was  hailed  as  "  Sergeant  Croesus." 

The  snow  blockade  was  such  that  many  children  at  the  fort  lost 
their  faith  in  Santa  Glaus.  He  who  rode  the  snow-drifts  and  the 
storm  was  barred  at  Ransom,  yet  seemed  to  swoop  in  force  on  Mor 
gan's  fireside.  Brand-new  sleds  were  there  for  Lot  and  Billy,  and 
another  doll,  and  such  stacks  of  furniture  and  boxes  of  leaden  soldiers, 


238  SERGEANT  CR(ESUS. 

besides  valuables  of  more  practical  sort.  All  these,  together  with 
fruits  and  candies  to  be  stuffed  in  their  worn  stockings,  had  been 
smuggled  in  through  the  kitchen  and  the  connivance  of  Bertha,  and 
with  them  were  some  costly  books,  Schramm's  gifts  to  his  honored 
captain  and  brown-eyed  Connie.  He  dared  not  offer  half  what  his 
heart  longed  to  lay  before  them.  They  had  a  Christmas  dinner,  too, 
that  Bertha  swore  was  her  own  production  and  inspiration.  They  had 
remembrances  from  the  fort  that  Schramm  "  packed"  in  on  horseback. 
Perry  Thornton  and  others  had  by  no  means  forgotten  them,  and 
Schramm  had  blushingly  called  upon  such  kind  friends  to  say  he  should 
be  only  too  glad  to  carry  in  anything  they  might  wish  to  send.  There 
was  no  lack  of  Christmas  cheer,  even  where  one  heart  was  so  heavy  as 
poor  Morgan's,  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  dream  how  very  much  of 
all  this  holiday  feasting  was  due  to  Schramm.  And  so  all  through 
the  long  hard  winter,  patient  and  reserved,  assiduous  in  every  duty  at 
the  fort,  yet  finding  frequent  opportunity  of  visiting  his  friends  in  Butte, 
Schramm  held  his  way.  Old  Hinkel  was  made  an  ordnance  sergeant 
along  in  March,  and  with  his  wife  and  olive-branches  took  departure 
for  a  far  southern  post,  Schramm  seeing  them  to  the  train  and  re 
ceiving  tearful  warmth  of  blessing  from  the  honest  frau  by  way  of 
good-by,  and  in  April  the  doctors  made  more  frequent  trips  to  town, 
for  Morgan  rallied  but  little  with  the  lengthening  days.  It  was  evi 
dent  that  no  bill  of  relief  could  bring  lasting  benefit  here. 

But,  despite  pain  and  hopelessness,  Morgan  clung  to  life  with  great 
determination.  Live  he  must  for  the  babies'  sakes,  he  said,  and  once 
more  now  his  days  were  brightened  by  visits  from  old  friends,  once 
more  in  the  sunny  afternoons  Perry  Thornton  dropped  in  for  checkers 
and  campaigns  or  to  show  a  new  picture  of  his  lady-love,  Connie 
sometimes  sitting  contentedly  by,  but  generally  busying  herself  with 
Bertha  about  the  house.  And  then,  just  as  was  sure  to  happen,  came 
the  order  for  summer's  work.  "  Away  to  the  Big  Horn !"  said  the 
colonel,  as  he  reined  up  one  day  at  Morgan's  open  door,  catching 
Schramm  in  the  act  of  blocking  out  a  flower-garden  for  Lot  and  Billy. 
And  that  evening  before  parade  the  regimental  adjutant,  seated  at  his 
desk,  was  surprised  by  a  visit  from  Sergeant  Schramm,  who  begged  of 
that  influential  officer  a  few  moments'  interview. 

"  Young  man,"  said  Tintop  to  his  staff  officer,  as  he  espied  the 
latter  tripping  around  from  the  club-room  just  before  first  call, "that's 


SERGEANT  CRCESUS.  239 

the  third  time  I've  seen  you  coming  out  of  Curran's  since  four  o'clock." 
To  which  Gray  promptly  replied, — 

"  Yes,  sir.  You  see,  last  week  you  remarked  upon  my  going  in 
there  so  often  that  I  thought  it  time  to  reverse  the  process."  And  this 
afforded  the  colonel  the  opportunity  of  giving  Gray  the  good  raking 
down  he  deserved,  and,  just  as  Gray  had  hoped  and  planned,  brought 
on  the  reaction  that  always  followed  an  outburst.  That  evening  Tintop 
came  over  to  the  office  to  "  make  it  up,"  and  then,  when  the  skies  were 
cleared,  Gray  broached  the  subject  of  Schramrn's  interview.  It  seems 
he  wanted  a  fortnight's  furlough  to  go  to  New  York  and  other  points 
on  urgent  personal  business,  and  had  reason  to  know  that  Bragg  would 
forward  the  application  disapproved ;  and  Bragg  did.  Bragg's  endorse 
ment  read,  "  This  young  soldier  has  been  the  recipient  of  so  many 
indulgences  already  as  to  seriously  impair  his  usefulness  as  a  sergeant. 
He  succeeded  in  evading  field  duty  with  the  troop  last  fall,  and  seeks 
to  shirk  it  again.  For  a  man  not  yet  two  years  in  service,  he  has  been 
promoted  over  older  and  more  deserving  men  so  rapidly  as  to  turn  his 
head."  And  Tintop  considered  the  whole  thing  a  reflection  on  him  as 
regimental  commander,  and  so  sent  for  Bragg  and  so  told  him,  and 
said,  furthermore,  that  if  Bragg  didn't  like  Schramm  and  could  find 
one  man  in  the  whole  regiment  who  was  willing  to  transfer  to  D,  now 
that  Bragg  was  its  captain,  he  would  be  glad  to  order  an  exchange ; 
and  this  gave  Bragg  the  opening  he  hoped  for  and  a  chance  to  reply 
that,  so  far  from  wanting  to  get  Schramm  out,  his  remarks  were  con 
clusive  proof  that  he  was  only  striving  to  keep  him  in.  It  was  hot 
shot,  give  and  take,  for  ten  minutes,  a  warfare  in  which  it  must  be 
owned  that  Tintop  rejoiced  even  though  he  did  not  excel,  and  it  ended 
in  his  ordering  Bragg  to  leave  the  office  and  coming  in,  all  in  a  tower 
ing  rage,  to  ask  Gray  if  he  ever  in  all  his  life  knew  such  a  cantankerous 
ass  as  Bragg, — "  unless  it's  me  for  letting  him  rub  my  fur  the  wrong 
way."  Gray  said  that  he  really  didn't  like  to  draw  invidious  com 
parisons  ;  but  Schramm  got  the  furlough,  was  back  at  Ransom  in  ten 
days,  and  caught  the  regiment  before  it  camped  in  sight  of  Cloud 
Peak.  He  had  a  long  conference  with  Bertha  before  he  left,  and  his 
good-by  to  his  captain  and  Connie  was  very  brief.  The  day  after  he 
left  there  drove  up  to  the  door  a  low-wheeled  phaeton  that  Connie 
instantly  recognized  as  Mrs.  Amory's.  Mrs.  Amory  was  the  wife  of 
one  of  the  officers  of  the  Eleventh,  who,  with  her  children,  had  gone 
back  to  visit  their  Kentucky  home  as  soon  as  the  regiment  was  ordered 


240  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

away,  leaving  the  phaeton    for  sale.     Bertha  came  in  with  a  note 
addressed  in  Schramm's  peculiar  cramped  and  precise  hand  : 

"  Will  not  the  gracious  Miss  Morgan  do  me  the  very  great  honor 
of  the  occasional  exercising  of  the  horse  and  carriage  which  must  be 
left  at  the  Empire  stable  during  the  summer  without  other  use?  The 
groom  will  call  each  morning  for  the  orders  of  the  gnadige  Fraulein, 
whose  acceptance  will  much  honor  and  deeply  oblige  both  '  Rand/  at 
her  service,  and  the  gracious  lady's 

"  Most  humble  and  grateful 

"  SCHRAMM." 

And  when  the  doctor  happened  in  and  found  Connie  with  tear- 
brimming  eyes  and  saw  through  the  situation  at  a  glance,  he  said  it 
was  an  inspiration.  On  those  smooth  hard  roads,  in  that  low,  couch- 
like,  soft-rolling  carriage  they  could  give  her  father  air,  sunshine,  a 
sight  of  the  distant  mountains,  a  look  at  the  old  fort,  an  occasional 
visit  to  the  now  neglected  grave.  Constance  took  "  Rand"  on  a  pre 
liminary  spin,  and  found  him,  as  was  to  be  expected,  perfectly  bridle- 
wise  and  reliable,  and  between  Dr.  French  and  Bertha  the  dear  old 
daddy  was  presently  bundled  in  by  her  side,  and  the  only  mar  to  the 
exquisite  joy  and  harmony  of  that  sunshiny  morning  was  the  indignant 
howl  of  Billy-boy  on  their  simultaneous  return,  he  from  school,  the 
elders  from  their  blissful  drive. 

And  now  frequently  in  the  fair  June  weather  they  came  bowling 
out  to  the  garrison,  Morgan  contentedly  reclining  in  the  phaeton  and 
chatting  with  old  friends  among  the  infantry  officers,  while  Constance 
ran  in  to  see  Mrs.  Woods  and  other  lady  friends  who  had  been  so  kind 
to  her  in  their  dark  days,  and  often  they  drove  to  the  neglected  ceme 
tery,  and  the  mother's  grave,  adorned  now  with  simple  head-stone,  was 
put  in  order,  turfed  and  trimmed,  and  often  decked  with  wild  flowers. 
But  there  was  greater  surprise  in  order.  A  letter  from  Aunt  Lottie 
said  their  uncle  had  business  requiring  a  visit  to  the  far  West,  and 
that  she  would  come  with  him.  And  they  came,  and  spent  two  days 
in  Butte,  and  Aunt  Lottie  urged  her  brother-in-law  to  make  an  effort 
and  move  to  the  East,  for  Connie's  face  was  a  fortune.  "She  will 
fall  in  love  with  and  marry  some  penniless  officer  if  she  stays  here," 
said  the  experienced  woman  of  the  world,  and  was  aghast  when  Mor 
gan  calmly  answered  that  he  hoped  she  would,  if  the  man  was  of  the 
right  sort,  as  only  in  the  army  had  they  found  friends  in  the  days  of 


SERGEANT  CECESUS.  241 

their  sorest  need.  As  for  himself,  he  looked  forward  to  the  time  when 
he  could  be  laid  away  by  Carrie's  side.  All  he  prayed  for  was  that 
his  children  might  not  be  left  destitute.  Already,  indeed,  two  young 
gentlemen  at  the  post,  subalterns  of  Rhett's  battalion,  were  noticed 
casting  sheep's-eyes  at  Connie's  lovely  face,  and  were  beginning  to  be 
assiduous  callers  at  the  little  house  in  town,  but  Constance  seemed  to 
have  no  thought  for  any  man  but  father.  Aunt  Lot  went  East  again 
with  distinct  sense  of  defeat,  but  her  husband  took  matters  less  to 
heart.  The  doctor  had  assured  them  that  the  long  journey  was  hardly 
possible,  and  that  Morgan  would  do  fairly  well  until  winter  again  set 
in,  and  then,  "  Should  anything  happen,  Connie,"  he  said,  "  you  must 
come  to  us." 

But  Connie's  reply  was  politely  indefinite.     Something  did  happen 
late  that  autumn,  and  Connie  did  not  go. 


XVII. 

Letters  came  only  at  rare  intervals  and  by  roundabout  and  devious 
ways  from  the  command  in  the  Big  Horn,  but  early  in  September 
there  was  news  of  interest.  Sergeant-Major  Hunter,  covered  with 
service  chevrons  and  scars,  took  his  honorable  discharge  and  final 
papers  and  went  into  department  head-quarters  as  clerk.  Tintop  and 
Gray  had  talked  the  probabilities  over  and  were  fully  prepared.  To 
the  wrath  of  Bragg,  the  grumbling  of  a  few  who  disapproved  of  giving 
first  prize  to  a  two-year-old  trooper,  and  yet  who  would  equally  have 
criticised  any  appointment  Gray  could  have  made,  but  to  the  out 
spoken  satisfaction  of  nine-tenths  of  the  regiment,  Sergeant  Schramm 
was  named  sergeant-major,  the  senior  non-commissioned  officer  of  the 
Eleventh.  Modestly  he  accepted,  for  already  his  colonel  and  other 
officers  had  bidden  him  look  even  higher.  "  You  are  on  the  road  to 
a  commission,"  said  Perry  Thornton,  when  the  young  German  came 
to  tell  him  of  the  offered  sergeant-majorship  and  to  beg  the  Herr 
Lieutenant's  kind  advice.  "  I  only  wish  the  commission  might  come 
in  time  for  you  to  stand  up  with  me.  Congratulate  me,  Rhetz :  the 
wedding  is  to  be  in  December." 

One  chilly  October  afternoon  Connie  had  driven  Mrs.  Woods  into 
town  after  a  brief  visit  to  the  fort.  Daddy  was  ailing  again  since  the 
frost  set  in,  and  beginning  to  house  himself  still  more.  She  had  left 
L  21 


242  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

her  friend  at  Mrs.  Whaling's,  and,  turning  "  Rand"  about,  was  spin 
ning  up  the  main  street  towards  their  home  at  the  westward  skirt  of 
town,  when,  striding  along  in  front  of  her,  slender,  erect,  in  the  most 
immaculate  of  yellow  stripes  and  chevrons  and  a  natty  blue  uniform, 
she  caught  sight  of  a  well-known  form,  in  an  instant  had  reined  up 
at  the  curb,  and  her  glad  voice,  eager  and  joyous,  rang  with  the  old 
name. 

"  Schramm  !  Why,  when — how  did  you  get  here  ?"  she  cried, 
throwing  down  the  reins  and  holding  forth  her  slender  hand.  The 
street  was  full  of  people,  and  who  that  saw  could  fail  to  note  the 
sudden  flash  of  delight  in  the  face  of  the  soldier  addressed  ?  Instantly 
he  whirled  about,  sprang  to  the  curb,  and  was  on  the  point  of  clasping 
the  proffered  hand,  when  as  suddenly  he  seemed  to  remember,  straight 
ened  up  instantly,  raised  the  forage-cap  from  his  curly  blond  head,  and 
answered,  respect,  homage,  admiration  in  his  fine  blue  eyes, — 

"Only  this  morning,  gnadige  Fraulein.  The  adjutant  and  I  were 
sent  in  by  way  of  Green  River.  The  regiment  is  marching  home." 

"  Oh,  father  will  be  so  glad  !  Have  you  time — can  you  run  up  to 
see  him  now  ?" 

"Assuredly,  Miss  Morgan.     I  was  on  my  way  there." 

"  That's  simply  lovely.  Come,  let  me  drive  you  now.  You  can't 
imagine  what  pleasure  '  Rand'  has  given  us  all."  And,  edging  back 
to  the  right  side  of  the  phaeton,  she  eagerly  made  room  for  him  beside 
her.  Schramm  flushed  to  his  very  eyes. 

"Oh,  gnadige  Fraulein,  I  thank  you,  but  I  could  not.  I  will 

come Pardon  !  I  must  stop  on  the  way.  Please  drive  on,  Miss 

Morgan.  It  cannot  be  that  I  should  drive  with  an  officer's  daughter." 
And,  seeing  rebellion  in  her  eyes,  he  abruptly  turned  and  strode  away. 
He  reached  the  little  home  only  five  minutes  behind  her,  but  the  next 
day  and  the  next  "  Rand"  stood  unused  in  the  stable.  "  It's  your  own 
doing,  Schramm,"  she  said,  with  flashing  eyes,  when  at  last  he  meekly 
came  to  ask  why  she  would  no  longer  honor  him  by  driving  his  horse 
and  phaeton.  "  If  there  is  any  military  impropriety  in  my  driving 
you,  there's  every  impropriety  in  my  driving  your  horse  and  phaeton." 
And  argument  was  useless.  She  refused  to  enter  it  again.  This  was 
the  first  break.  Then  came  a  second.  On  three  occasions  within  the 
ten  days  after  his  return,  the  sergeant-major,  calling  to  see  how  fared 
his  captain  and  the  family,  found  Lieutenant  Renshaw,  a  very  present 
able  young  infantryman,  seated  in  the  little  parlor.  Once  it  was  Ren- 


SERGEANT  CR(ESUS.  243 

shaw  who  opened  the  door.  At  sight  of  him  the  soldier  had  become 
rigid,  like  a  pointer.  His  inquiries  were  made  on  this  occasion  with 
hand  at  salute,  and  he  faced  about  and  left  at  once,  but  Constance 
pursued  and  caught  him  at  the  gate,  and  Renshaw,  watching  from 
the  window,  saw  him  at  attention,  punctilious  as  ever,  and  saw  that 
Constance  was  pleading.  She  was  flushed  and  ready  to  cry  when 
she  came  back.  Schramm  came  seldom  now,  and  Renshaw  more  fre 
quently,  and  the  third  winter  opened  in  chill  and  gloom. 

Thornton  came  to  say  good-by  just  before  Thanksgiving,  and  went 
blissfully  away  to  his  wedding,  leaving  Renshaw  haunting  the  invalid's 
room  and  swearing  to  himself  at  Connie's  ceaseless  household  duties. 
He  began  to  realize  that  she  was  actually  striving  to  avoid  him,  and  so 
did  Morgan.  One  night  Morgan  called  her  to  him  and  gently,  fondly 
began  to  plead  with  her.  "  He  has  asked  my  consent,  Constance.  He 

is  a  gentleman.  He  loves "  But  she  would  hear  no  more,  and 

with  a  burst  of  tears  fled  to  her  room.  Poor  Renshaw  was  told  that 
Constance  could  not  listen  to  any  proposal :  she  would  not  leave  daddy. 

"  But  daddy  must  soon  leave  her,"  the  father  urged  again,  "  and 
then  what  is  to  become  of  you  and  Lot  and  Billy  ?  Renshaw  said  he 

would  only  be  too  glad "  But  here  the  slender  white  hand  was 

placed  on  his  mouth,  and  further  words  were  impossible. 

He  took  it  sorely  to  heart,  did  Renshaw,  and  he  said  some  ill- 
advised  and  peppery  things  the  day  of  Mrs.  Fenton's  tin-wedding 
reception  when  waltzing  with  Connie  down  the  long  hall.  "  If  nothing 
but  a  German  baron  will  suit,  why,  I  suppose  you  can  have  him  ;  but 
the  least  the  fellow  can  do  is  to  wait  till  he  gets  his  commission,  and 
not  be " 

But  he  never  finished.  With  one  low  cry  of  "  Oh,  shame,  Mr. 
Renshaw !"  she  tore  away  from  him  and  into  the  dressing-room. 

It  was  just  dark  that  evening  when  the  ambulance  from  the  post 
landed  her  at  their  door,  and  Mrs.  Whaling,  who  had  matronized  the 
little  party  of  town  girls,  drove  on  with  her  brood.  Connie  stole,  as 
usual,  to  her  father's  side  to  bend  and  kiss  him  and  murmur  some  fond 
inquiry.  But  pent-up  indignation,  the  strain  and  misery  of  the  long 
ride  during  which  she  had  been  compelled  to  listen  to  brainless  sallies 
and  congratulations  on  Renshaw's  devotion,  all  proved  too  much  for 
her.  No  sooner  did  she  feel  the  father's  arms  around  her  than  her 
girlish  strength  gave  way,  and  she  lay  sobbing  on  his  breast.  There 
was  the  sound  of  a  rasping  chair,  of  some  one  striving  to  hurry  from 


244  SERGEANT  CRCESUS. 

the  room,  but  she  did  not  hear.  "  He — he  dared  to  speak  of  Schramm  !" 
she  cried,  "of  Schramm,  who — who  is  truer  gentleman — truer  hero — 
than  any — any — any  officer  they've  got." 

And  the  shadowy  form  striving  to  find  means  of  exit  from  the  tiny 
den  in  which  reclined  the  invalid  and  his  clasping,  sobbing  child  was 
that  of  Sergeant-Major  Schramm,  who,  all  unnoticed  and  unseen  by 
her,  was  thus  become  the  hearer  of  his  own  perfections.  Renshaw's 
hapless  outburst  had  proved  his  own  undoing  and  swept  away  the  last 
barrier  to  his  rival's  approach.  "  The  least  he  can  do  is  to  wait  till  he 
gets  his  commission,"  indeed  !  After  Connie's  outburst  it  was  more 
than  mortal  man  could  do  to  wait  at  all. 

L'ENVOL 

It  seems  very  long  ago,  that  bitter  winter  in  the  heart  of  the 
Rockies,  yet  one  of  the  old  regiment,  enjoying  with  his  wife  and 
children  the  first  blissful  taste  of  foreign  travel,  stood  one  exquisite 
summer  morning  on  the  forward  deck  of  the  oddly-modelled  "  dampfer" 
that  was  churning  the  blue-brown  flood  of  the  Rhine,  and  thus  replied 
to  the  query  of  his  better  half: 

"  Know  her  ?  Why,  you'll  know  her  instantly.  Connie  can  never 
grow  old."  Yes,  rounded  indeed  is  the  sweet  face  of  the  woman 
standing  with  her  soldierly  husband  close  to  the  railing  of  the  landing 
under  the  beautiful,  vine-clad  heights  ahead,  her  soft  brown  eyes  fixed 
in  eagerness  upon  the  approaching  steamer.  The  slender  form  we 
knew  in  the  shabby  old  black  serge  is  almost  majestic  in  its  proportions 
now,  yet  how  fair  and  sweet  and  smiling  is  the  dear,  bonny  face  once 
so  piteously  sad  amid  the  snows  of  far-away  Ransom !  Happy  wife 
and  mother, — the  idol  of  her  soldier-husband's  heart, — the  "  gnadige 
Fraulein"  whom  he  won  in  distant  America  long  years  ago  had  speedily 
found  her  way  into  the  love  of  the  old  retainers  of  the  ancestral  home 
to  which,  summoned  to  succeed  the  stern  old  father  whose  last  words 
and  thoughts  were  for  his  banished  son,  he  bore  her  so  soon  after  the 
last  volley  was  fired  over  Morgan's  head  as  they  laid  him  away,  as  he 
had  prayed,  by  Carrie's  side.  He  died  without  a  lingering  fear  for 
the  children's  future,  one  hand  clasped  in  faithful  Schramrn's.  The 
commission  had  indeed  been  tendered,  but  gracefully,  courteously 
declined  because  of  family  duties  at  his  old  home  in  the  fabled  Rhine- 
land.  Again  he  wears  the  uniform  of  his  famous  corps,  all  the  better 
officer  for  his  experience  in  the  American  cavalry.  Already  Lottie 


SERGEANT  CRUHSUS.  245 

had  cut  a  wide  swath  among  the  bachelor  subalterns  of  the  hussars 
before  finally  bestowing  heart  and  hand  and  a  Schramm-provided  dot 
upon  a  totally  different  party,  though  an  eminently  sound  one.  Already 
Billy  has  won  distinction  (as  a  skylarker  and  schldger  and  all-round 
scapegrace)  at  Heidelberg,  where  he  sports  a  yellow  cap  and  a  monocle, 
a  straggly  moustache,  and  some  ridiculous  slashing  scars,  of  all  of 
which  he  is  inordinately  vain,  and  with  genuine  American  enthusiasm, 
he  prattles  of  "  my  brother-in-law  the  baron,"  who  laughs  at  his 
stories,  chaffs  him  about  his  duels,  quizzes  him  as  to  his  scientific 
attainments  (for  Billy,  be  it  known,  is  going  back  to  America  this  fall 
to  offer  his  services  to  capitalists  as  an  expert  mining  engineer,  and 
says  for  the  first  year  a  salary  of  five  thousand  dollars  will  do) ;  but 
the  Herr  Graf  pays  his  debts  and  provides  his  pocket-money,  and  the 
only  secrets  Connie  does  not  share  are  those  concerning  her  hopeful 
brother  and  his  affairs.  As  for  Connie  herself,  she  is  happy  as  the 
years  are  long,  happy  as  even  an  army  girl  deserves  to  be. 


THE   END. 


Date  Due 


PRINTED   IN    U.S. 


CAT.    NO.    24    161 


546  063 


